Sailor Moon: Neo
by Summoner Angel
Summary: here we go!!! CH.10 and some changes to some of the other chappys...ya might wanna re-read some parts just so you don't get too confused, k? R
1. New Moon Rising

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own 'Sailor Moon', but I do own all the original characters in this story! Don't sue me! 

"Mama! Papa! Come look at this!" Princess Lady Serenity, in a very unprincess-like manner, flew down the hallway towards the Council Room. Her parents turned from their meeting with the Sailor Soldiers to see what all the panic was about. "Look! I was accepted into Crystal Tokyo University!" Neo-Queen Serenity's face lit up and she hugged the excited girl. "Oh Rini! That is so wonderful!" Endymion smiled and winked. "I told you so. You were just being paranoid when you took that entrance exam in June." Rini laughed and pulled out of her mother's embrace. "This letter says that I have to come in today and pick up my uniform and we have to complete all the paper work, too." The king and queen exchanged nervous glances. Rini caught the look on both their faces and frowned. "You can't come, right? There's something more important you have to do today, isn't there?" When she got no immediate response Rini turned and fled. Sailor Saturn had stood up during the display of, well, rejection and was heading towards the door. "Hotaru! This meeting isn't over yet!" Neo-Queen Serenity was obviously upset about something because she never yelled at anyone. Saturn nodded and sat again.

          Rini burst into her pink bedroom and threw herself on the huge bed. Her whole body was wracked with sobs. A lavender gray cat with a jingle bell tied around her neck leapt from the nearby windowsill to land near the girl's head. "What is the matter, Rini? I thought you were ecstatic to be accepted at the University." Rini lifted her head from within her crossed arms. "Diana, I am happy. But my parentally challenged parents can't come with me to the school today. And I have to be there with my guardians, the letter even says so." Diana flicked her tail casually. "Rini your parents are very busy, they have to rule a whole country, you know. I thought by now you'd understand that they have obligations to fulfill to this country and its people." Now Rini stood up, outraged, and yelled back. "They have obligations to me as their daughter that they should feel they have to fulfill before anything else!" And again, she turned and ran from the room, leaving a shocked Diana sitting on her bed.

          Rini ran to the only place she ever found comfort in the whole Crystal Palace, the gardens. It was always so peaceful and quiet there and she was usually the only person there. Her favorite place in the whole garden was the rose garden. So many different colors of roses, filling the air with their scent. Most people commented on the red roses and how beautiful they were. 

          But when the princess was feeling lonely and sad (like now) she went to the small garden devoted to white roses. There was a magnificent white marble fountain at the center of the rose garden. There were also white marble benches along the row of roses. Rini found herself thinking about the oddest things here. Like her days as Sailor Mini-Moon and her friendship with the Elysian priest Helios. Sighing, Rini settled into the comforting sounds of the trickling water and the smell of the sweet roses. A gentle breeze stirred her hair, pushing a stray strand across her tear stained face. She closed her eyes and wondered at the familiar feeling she was experiencing. It was like her mind wasn't fully in her body. Suddenly, there was a sound as if the wind had intensified greatly and she was no longer in the white garden Rini was now standing in the middle of a forest made of crystal. Gasping in realization Rini cried, "I'm in Elysian?!" Her voice echoed loudly through the shimmering, crystal trees. Covering her mouth in surprise at how loud the echoes were, Rini soaked in every element of the world she hadn't seen in years. Somewhere in the distance, she heard a horse whinny. Smiling, Rini turned towards the sound, but stopped abruptly. Before her three lights were bobbing in the branches of the trees. One was pink, one was yellow, and the other was blue. A familiar voice called out from the pink one. "Princess, please follow us." Recognizing the voice to be that of Hawk's Eye, she made the assumption that the other two were Tiger's Eye and Fish's Eye. All three orbs of light flew off in the opposite direction. Rini nodded and followed quickly. Soon they were out of the crystal forest and were standing in the middle of a huge field of white roses. Rini stood awestruck for a moment. "Its so beautiful!" She exclaimed, leaning down to smell the nearest blossom. The womanly voice of Fish's Eye interrupted her. "I hate to interrupt, but this is urgent!" Rini sighed and stood up all the way. 

          The trip through the rose field was like a dream within a dream for Rini. But it was a dream that ended too suddenly because they had arrived at their destination. It was a horrible sight, the temple that had served as Helios's home was totally destroyed. Smoking remnants of stone lay everywhere and the pedestal that had once held the Gold Crystal was totally empty. Rini's eyes filled with tears and she let them fall unbidden to the scorched ground. The three bobbing lights had disappeared; Rini was alone in the aftermath of what had to be a horrible battle. Taking a hesitant step forward and then another, Rini made her way, slowly, towards the crumbling structure. Lying in the shadows was the figure of an injured horse. Rini froze. It wasn't a normal horse; it had huge white wings and a broken gold horn. Apparently it was wounded horribly because a large patch of its lovely white body was red. Sprinting the rest of the way, Rini fell to her knees beside the fallen creature. Cradling its head in her hands Rini cried once more, this time it hurt more horrible than the last time she cried over Helios. "Helios, please don't be dead." She uttered between sobs. All of the sudden a pink light grew from her chest and spread up and through her arms. The light shot into Helios's body and there was a flash of an even brighter light. Rini cried out and covered her head with her arms. When the light faded, she peeked through her arms and almost fell over dead. There was a young man standing where the Pegasus had once been. He had white hair and brown-red eyes that were calm and gentle. His clothes, as tattered as they were, were just like Helios's had been those many years ago. The young man turned to look at Rini and his face changed from a look of shock to a look of pure pleasure. "My maiden, you have saved me once again. I am in your debt." Rini scrambled to her feet and stared at this man. "You are Helios?" Her voice was small and unsure. He nodded, smiling wider. "W-what happened to your horn, Helios?" Rini took a few shaky steps towards the older looking Helios and pointed at his forehead. Helios felt the spot where his horn would've normally been and jumped in surprise. "Well, I do not know, maiden. It must have been destroyed in battle." Rini was already recovering from the shock of what had just happened. She smiled and then laughed and spun around in a circle. Helios laughed too, and soon the both of them were in tears. "What is so funny, maiden?" Helios asked when they had both stopped to breathe. Rini wiped the tears of joy from her eyes. "Its just that I thought you were dead and then that weird light healed you. I'm just really happy, that's all." She fainted then, but luckily Helios caught her.

          Rini awoke to find herself lying in the crystal forest once more. Helios was nowhere in sight. Frowning Rini stood up unsteadily and called out, "Helios?" No answer. "Helios, where are you?" A warm breeze blew a few white rose petals into her view. Then Helios was there, holding a single white rose in his hand. He had gotten different clothes that looked more like something someone on Earth would wear. Smiling again, Helios bowed and held the rose out to Rini. "For my beautiful maiden." She blushed and took the rose from him. "Thank you Helios. Its lovely." Helios straightened. "I know you must have many roses in the gardens of Crystal Tokyo, but this is a special rose. It will never die or lose any petals as long as Elysian is still alive." Rini nodded. "Speaking of Elysian, Helios what happened here?" Helios turned away and answered in a slightly cold voice. "What do you mean?" "You were obviously attacked by someone or something. And the temple's in ruins. I know something must have happened." He turned back to face her, his face was a mask of pain. "I did not want to have to share this with you. But if you insist, I shall tell you. I am not totally sure of what or whom the attack was from, but they were horribly strong. Whatever it was, it took the form of a giant black cloud, with glowing red eyes." Helios closed his eyes, as if the very thought of the thing was painful. Rini touched his shoulder and he took her hand. "It destroyed the temple with an immense amount of dark energy. I am frightened to say that I was not strong enough to stop it. As you know it managed to mortally wound me." He opened his eyes. "If you hadn't come when you did I would've been dead." Rini laughed. "You'll have to thank Tiger's Eye, Hawk's Eye, and Fish's Eye for that. They guided me to the temple when I arrived here. Come to think of it, how did I come here? One minute I was sitting in the gardens of the Crystal Palace, the next I was standing here." She motioned to the crystal forest surrounding them. Helios had long since released her hand and was now fiddling with something he had pulled out of his pocket. Rini craned her neck to see over his shoulder. He had what looked like an orb of shimmery blue and purple light in his hand. "Wow! What's that?" Helios smiled at her curiosity. "This is an orb of my dream energy. I used it to pull you from Crystal Tokyo. I did not think it was truly going to work." There was a moment of silence before Rini backed away and looked up at the sky, which was dancing with many colors. "I suppose I should go back and report this to my mother and father." Helios looked lonely suddenly, like Rini wanted to leave, right? Rini caught the crestfallen look and went to him. She wrapped her arms around him and whispered, "Come with me, Helios. I need you." He returned the embrace and whispered back, "I wish I could, Rini. But I must stay and protect this realm from further attack. Luckily they never got the Gold Crystal, so I must stay." Rini cuddled closer. Helios smiled and for an endless moment they seemed to stop time to stay together. Then it was over and Rini stood in the middle of the clearing, waiting for Helios to wish her back. "I'll miss you Helios!" Her eyes were tear filled again. Helios was serious as he held out the orb of dream energy. It flickered brighter as he closed his eyes. An aura of purpley blue surrounded Rini and she braced herself. Helios opened his eyes and called out, "I shall always be with you, if only in dreams!" Then Elysian disappeared and the roses of the Crystal Palace gardens shifted into view.

                    Rini slumped down further onto her bench, exhausted. "Whoa! I guess it took more energy than I thought it would to revive him." "Revive who?" It was pesky sounding voice that called lazily from behind her. Rini jumped and turned around seeing a light gray cat with one blue eye and one brown-red eye. There was a gold crescent moon on his forehead. Rini grimaced. "Oh its you Art. What do you want?" Art (Diana's younger brother) leapt down from his perch on the edge of a low wall. He trotted towards her nonchalantly. "I want to know what you were mumbling about just now." Rini blinked. "Art, what did you see here?" Art jumped up and landed on her shoulder. "You fell asleep and when you woke up you said something about reviving someone." Rini laughed nervously. "Oh I must still have been a little asleep and I was just talking in my half-sleep." This seemed to convince the curious cat because he nodded and jumped off her shoulder. Before he ran off he called back, "Oh yeah! Mom told me to come tell you that Trista is gonna take you to CTU." He was out of sight seconds afterwards. Rini stood up and pondered what she had just said. 'Why'd I feel like lying to him like that?' She thought. Her protectiveness about this whole thing was a bit much. She smiled mischievously. 'Maybe I won't tell anyone about my meeting with Helios. It'll be our little secret.' She had started walking away when suddenly she remembered the rose. Running back to the bench, she smiled at the sight of the white rose lying on the bench. She bent and picked it up. 'Helios, I promise not to forget you.' 

                    In the darkness of another dimension, very different from our own, a single light source glowed. It just happened to be two red eye-like things floating suspended in the darkness. An angry, disembodied voice yelled from the direction of the eyes. "Aria! Rylie! Starfire and Starfrost! Come forth!" Immediately three lights glimmered into existence. Red, light blue, and dark gray. Out of the red light stepped a tall women dressed in a skimpy red dress. She had red-pink hair that was styled in two buns on the sides of her head. Her eyes were all red. Beside her, from the blue light, a slightly shorter woman with almost white light blue hair. It was styled in a single braid that looped back up to meet her head again. She wore a dress that was a bit more concealing than the red head's, but her eyes were red like the red head's. The last light, the dark gray one, produced a teen aged looking girl with black hair. It was styled like Sailor Pluto's only with two buns. Her eyes were violet with a ring of red around the pupils. She wore a really dark gray dress that was identical to that of Princess Serena, only without the sleeve puffs. Also, the moons on the dress were black and upside down. There was a black, upside down crescent moon on her forehead. Flaring brightly, the red eye's voice called out, "Where is Rylie?" All three women flinched, but none spoke. In a swirl of a midnight blue cape the man in question appeared. He had golden blond hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a simple suit of silver armor with a midnight blue under suit. He bowed. "I'm sorry, Lord Darkstar. I do not have the same powers as your ladies here do." He winked at the one with black hair, who smiled back. Darkstar made a sound that seemed like a growl. "My attack on Elysian did not go as I had planned. I was unable to get the Gold Crystal and therefore I am stuck as a black cloud of nothingness!" Rylie, who seemed to be the cheekiest of the group, made a brash suggestion. "Lord Darkstar, may I say something? I have thought up a clever plan that will defeat the Sailor Soldiers and get you a bodily form back." The red eyes narrowed. "Go on." Rylie smiled. "I'm sure you know this, but the Crystal Orbs of the Sailor Soldiers would provide us with an immense amount of energy. And if they were to be stolen the Sailor Soldiers would lose every means of protecting their queen, Elysian, and all the Emperium Crystals!" The red eyes seemed to like this plan very much because they made a chuckling noise. "Very good, Rylie! Aria, take the Black Scouts and steal the Crystal Orbs from the evil ones who destroyed your family." Aria, the black haired one, nodded. "Yes, milord. I shall not fail you!" She locked eyes with Rylie before disappearing into a glimmer of gray light. "Starfire and Starfrost I want you to find out whether we can use my father's Time Portal. It may come in handy." The remaining women nodded and bowed before turning back into glimmers of red and blue light. Rylie bowed, smiling. "I take my leave of you now my lord." Before Darkstar could say anything he turned and ran out of the chamber.

          Outside of the darkest chamber in the whole dimension, Aria stood waiting for Rylie. He ran out of the chamber and slammed the huge door with a flourish. Aria ran over to him and he swept her up into his arms. They kissed for a long time and then they just stood there in each other's arms. "I will go now and get my revenge on the Sailor Soldiers. Thanks to your plan, Rylie." She looked up into his blue eyes and almost melted. He had a certain strength to him that was intoxicating. He was smiling now and her led away to another chamber.

                    Hours later Aria arrived in the room that was a jumble of fire rings, ice structures, dancing lightening, and tons of mirrors. Within each of these different things stood a woman in Sailor Suited glory. Each one had black bows and strange symbols on their tiaras. Aria snapped her fingers and all four looked at her. "Princess! You have returned!" The Sailor that had been standing with all the floating mirrors rushed forward. She had long brown-blond hair that was styled like Mina's only with a black bow. Her eyes were a strange dark yellow color. Dark yellow was the color of the rest of her suit. "Lord Darkstar has given us a mission." Aria said in a very important sounding voice. The Sailor who was playing with the lightening released the bolt she was twisting. "Finally! It's been forever, now." Her brown hair was pulled into a ponytail; her eyes were a bright green color as was the rest of her sailor suit. Lastly, the fire and ice sisters turned around to reveal identical faces and reddish eyes. One had long deep red hair and her sailor suit was dark red. The other had really short dark blue hair and dark blue sailor suit. The two said in unison, "Yes, we are glad to get some action." Aria nodded and revealed the finer points of the plan.

                    Meanwhile, back in our dimension, Rini was standing in front of the Crystal Palace gates, in street clothes. Trista was taking a really long time getting out of the Palace and the young princess was growing impatient. Diana, who was lounging on her shoulder, yawned. "Well, you'd think she'd have a good sense of time seeing as she's the Guardian of the Time Gates." Rini smiled wryly. "Plu has faults just like the rest of us." Diana yawned again just as Trista appeared walking quickly and carrying a black briefcase. She nodded towards a sleek black hover car and Rini followed her into it. 

The drive wasn't very long, but the traffic was horrible. The two of them were, for the most part, silent. It had been a while since they had been able to spend a whole lot of time together. "So, Rini, how have you been lately? I haven't seen a lot of you since you birthday." Trista ventured. Rini turned from staring at the people on the streets. "I guess I've been okay." Trista smiled. "'You guess'?" Rini shrugged the matter away. "Since mom and dad never let me leave the Palace I'm kind of limited in the way of friends." Diana made a hurt noise and Rini corrected herself. "Of course, Diana here is always there for me." Trista guiltily looked away. "This is a good opportunity for you to make tons of friends, since it's a boarding school. But your parents and all the Scouts are going to miss you, little one." Rini snorted. "Right. You guys barely know me anymore." The tone of contempt in her voice made Trista flinch. "I know it must be hard for you to have to deal with palace life. Your parents have been dreadfully busy trying to talk the United States out of attacking Germany over a petty misunderstanding and we Scouts have been investigating the odd attacks all over the city." Rini looked down at her hands and then back at her old friend. "I'll try to understand you guys a little better. I know you're all busy but," She paused. "Never mind, we're here." She quickly jumped out of the car and waited for Trista. Diana looked at Rini sadly. "Rini, this is gonna get really complicated if you don't just tell everyone how you feel." Rini ignored her and swung into step with Trista.

          Afterwards, when they arrived back at the Palace, Trista called to the skipping Rini, "Hey! What do you say to a picinic with you, the Scouts and your parents?" Rini stopped and turned back. "How's Saturday at three in the rose gardens?" She called excitedly. Trista laughed and nodded. With that settled, Rini had something to look forward to that weekend. She hurried to her room and closed the door silently. On the small bedside table the white rose sat in a simple pink vase. Rini smelled the rose and thought of Helios. She remembered how good it had felt when he held her, when he spoke in his soft, gentle voice, even when he'd look at her she felt like flying up and sleeping on cloud 9. Then she suddenly remembered that she'd probably never see him in person again. Just the thought of it brought a lump to her throat. It was only now that she realized what that feeling was. Love.

          That weekend, Rini helped Lita make the food for the picinic. Then she helped set up the huge blanket with Michelle and Amara. All the while, they laughed, joked and caught up. Her parents came a little late, but no matter. It was bright sunny day and the food was wonderful. When they had all eaten, they just sat there and talked. Rini fell into a thoughtful silence after a while. She was pondering her detached relationship with Helios when Mina started staring her. Then the blond leaned forward and whispered, "So Rini, who's the guy you're daydreaming about?" Rini jumped. "W-what?!" Mina laughed. "You can't fool me! I'm the goddess of love and I can spot it a mile away." Rini blushed a deep red as Lita joined in. "What's this about Rini being in love?" The brunette asked, leaning closer. Soon all the Inner Scouts were pestering Rini about the mystery guy. "How old is he?" Raye asked. "Is he a hottie?" Mina asked with a wink. "Have you asked your parents about getting into a serious relationship?" Amy asked, seriously. Lita laughed. "I bet its just puppy love!" "Why don't you guys lay off a little? Can't you see she's uncomfortable?" Amara was lying with her eyes closed, but she was still listening. Michelle nodded in agreement. "I'm sure that whoever this guy is, if there even is a guy, that he's sensible enough to some to Serenity and Endymion to ask permission." Hotaru, who's all grown up, smiled. "I remember the day I met my husband." Amara opened her eyes. "Yeah! So do we!" Trista smiled. "I hope this boy is nothing like Drake, Hotaru. He had a troubled past, let's just say that, huh." All the while Rini just sat there trying not to blow up at all of them for talking about her "guy" like he was a piece of cloth. Michelle and Amy's comments about asking her parents' permission stung the worst. She didn't have to ask! She was her own person. Serenity and Endymion were listening intently. "I would like to say something." Serenity's regal, yet calm, voice shut all of them up. "Rini, dear, if there is a special someone in your life, I would really like to talk about it. It's been a while since we had a mother-daughter talk." Rini nodded numbly and Serenity excused them both. She led Rini over to the shade of huge rose bush. The pink blossoms were starting to shed their petals, making a sweet smelling carpet to sit on. "Now, Rini, I won't ask any prying questions because you need your space. But at least describe him to me!" She sounded just like the old Serena Rini knew so well, pleading with her like that. Rini smiled and began describing Helios in a very vague fashion. "He's tall and pale, but not in a bad way. He's got the most caring eyes I've ever seen. And his voice is so soothing and soft. He's a gentleman, mama, very gentle." It must've been something Rini said or perhaps the way she said it but Serenity blinked tears out of her eyes. "You've grown up so much and now you're in love!" She embraced her daughter and tried not to cry. "Does this gentleman have a name?" Rini froze. 'Uh-oh! Now what do I do?' Her thoughts and heart conflicted and she blurted, "Mama, can you please not tell papa or anyone else?" Serenity smiled. "Oh I see! You want to keep it a mother-daughter secret. Of course! I'll never tell a soul, Scout's honor." Rini hesitated and then she met her mother's blue eyes, full of love and she knew those were trustworthy eyes. "Mama, you remember when I came back in time to train with you and the Scouts?" Serenity nodded. "Well, it all started back then." It took a minute but realization dawned over the queen's face. "Rini! When did you see him again? I thought he had to stay in Elysian." Rini laughed, happy that her mom finally attained a sharp mind. "He called me to Elysian because he was hurt really bad in a battle. I healed him, somehow." Serenity's face changed. "He was hurt in battle? Was it a black cloud with red eyes?" Rini nodded. "How'd you know?" "Raye saw it all happen in a vision, but I couldn't believe anyone would attack the Priest of Elysian." Luna and Artemis, followed by Diana, suddenly ran to them. "Serenity! Rini! There's trouble!" Luna exclaimed. "Come with us!" Artemis said before the three cats took off in the direction of the picinic.

          Five Sailor suited figures stood over the beaten bodies of all the Sailor Soldiers. Endymion was still standing, but hurt badly. "Endy! Scouts!" Serenity ran to her love and supported him just as he lost his balance. Rini stopped before the group of evil Scouts. "Who are you?" The leader (Aria) laughed. "So glad you asked. I am Sailor Black Moon, the champion of hatred and crime. In the name of the Black Moon, I shall wrong rights and defeat good and that's you." The other four stepped forward. "We'll punish you! We're the Black Scouts!" Without waiting for an answer, Black Moon grabbed Rini and hefted her into the air. She squinted at Rini before tossing her aside like a rag doll. She landed with a thump far away from the battle. "Rini! No!" Neo-Queen Serenity screamed. Endymion groaned and stood up on his own. "Go see if Rini's okay." Serenity shook her head. "I won't leave you." The king pulled a rose out of his cape. "Go!" Serenity burst into tears and ran to the limp form of her daughter. Endymion threw the rose with all his might at the leader of the Black Scouts. Without even looking Black Moon caught the rose. "Ha! What's this supposed to do? Oh look girls! A big, scary flower." She turned to the other Black Scouts who nodded and snickered. Endymion slumped to the ground; he had used the last of his energy to throw that rose. 

          Serenity bent over Rini's body, screaming and crying. "Rini! Oh Rini, don't die on me! Rini!" The princess' eyes fluttered open and her face hardened. "Mama, I have to go help fight." Serenity shook her head. "No! No way! I won't lose you, too." Rini smiled, pulling her Mini-Moon brooch out of her pocket. 

"Moon Prism Power!" The brooch didn't even flicker in response. "What?" Serenity was sobbing harder because she saw Endymion fall. Rini thrust the brooch into the air and cried again, "Moon Prism Power! Work, you stupid thing. WORK!" Rini tossed the brooch to the ground and watched as Black Moon called the Black Scouts to her. "Now, let's finish this!" The evil moon soldier held her hands forward an aura of black energy surrounded her. Each of the Black Scouts closed their eyes and added their energy to the attack. Black Moon's eyes turned totally red and, in a voice that was not her own she screamed,

_Darkstar Crystal Knife!_

_            Nine knife-like energy rays shot from her outstretched hands. Each beam found a fallen Scout. A single tear rolled off her face as Rini looked down and saw a black energy knife slipping through her chest. Serenity's agonized screams faded as a pink light slowly grew from where the knife had entered. A red orb, about the size of a baseball that looked crystalline was forming in the wake of the knife. There was a pink crescent moon at the center and white angel wings on the sides. Rini felt her energy slowly being sucked away, and then she was falling into darkness. She couldn't breathe or move. 'This is it. Its over....' Her thoughts seemed to echo eerily and then Helios's voice called to her. "Rini! You have to fight back! Please!" _

          Her eyes slowly opened and focused on the red and pink orb. Concentrating with all her might, Rini stretched her hand out to grab it. As soon as her hand and the orb came in contact there was a flash of pink light. A pink transformation pen with two gold stars and a gold moon on it with the orb at the top appeared. "What? How is that possible?" Black Moon screamed, enraged. Energy restored, Rini took the pen and thrust it into the air, calling,

_Moon Crystal Orb Power!_

_            Pink ribbons shot out of the Crystal Orb and they surrounded Rini's upper body, forming her main suit and red front bow. The Crystal Orb of the Moon became the brooch. Quickly moving to her arms and lower body, the ribbons formed her gloves, pink skirt, and long red back bows. Then her pink boots with red tops, pink choker with red moon, red bun caps, and last of all her gold tiara with a pink moon on it were formed. She struck a pose at the end that was just her mom's original pose. _

"Grrrr! Get her!" Black Moon yelled to her cronies and the Black Scouts launched a flurry of attacks.

_Black Jupiter Thunder Clap ZAP!_

_Black Venus Crescent Beam SMASH!_

_Black Mars Fire IGNITE!_

_Black Mercury Shine Aqua ILLUSION!_

_            Negatively charged carbon copies of the Sailor Scouts' attacks, these ones had twice the power! Flying at double the normal speed, they flew straight at the dazed Rini. Looking up just in time, she dodged quickly. "That's it! Now I'm mad!" She dusted her skirt off and stood. "Listen, you Sailor-wannabes! I am Sailor Neo-Moon! And in the name of the newly risen moon, I'll punish you!" Sailor Black Moon merely grinned. "Too late, pinky. I've already gotten exactly what I came here for." She flicked her hand and the Sailor Scouts' Crystal Orbs all flew to her. Laughing maniacally, Black Moon signaled to the Black Scouts. "Kill her and take her Crystal Orb!" Then she was gone in a flicker of gray energy. "So, little pinky's gonna fight us?" The Black Scout with neon green eyes scoffed. The blond flipped her hair over her shoulder. "I just want to get this over with so I can go get some beauty rest." Neo-Moon prepared to launch her first ever attack. "And you need that beauty rest, too!"_

_Moon Tiara Slice!_

          Neo-Moon threw the pink disc of energy that had once been her tiara at the blond. Smirking, blondie moved slightly to the right, her hair moving slower. With a faint slicing noise, Neo-Moon's tiara cut a good deal of blondie's hair off. Screaming in horror, blondie tried to catch the stray hair. Sailor Neo-Moon caught her tiara and put it back on her head. "Black Venus, I always thought you'd look better with shorter hair." The girl with dark red hair said helping blondie out of the way of the fight. They all seemed to be preparing to leave, so Neo-Moon threw another insult their way. "Hey! Leaving so soon? I thought you could beat me."

_Pink Crystal Storm!          _

          A ton of tiny pink crystals formed around Neo-Moon and then, with a mere flick of the wrist, she sent them flying at the retreating villains. All of them got quite the beating from the little crystals. Black Venus cried out in anger as the others teleported away, "I'll get you!" And then they were all gone. Neo-Moon sighed gratefully and then remembered the Scouts. "Guys! Hey!" she hurried to the still Soldiers. Each one was breathing as if they were just sleeping. Neo-Queen Serenity ran towards Neo-Moon and bear-hugged her. "Oh Rini, Rini, Rini! You were so great! I'm so proud!" Endymion limped over and patted her on the back. "I always knew you could do it." And so Sailor Neo-Moon gained her powers and a new moon rises over the Earth.

Author's Notes: Okay! Whatcha think, guys? I hope you like it! I know, this isn't what ANYTHING like what I've posted here before, but this is just one branch of my fan-author-atism. Please review it tell me whatcha think!


	2. Vx's 2Double Trouble

Back in the Darkstar Dimension, Aria was presenting Lord Darkstar with the Crystal Orbs she had stolen. A hissing noise echoed through the chamber as the light from the orbs glimmered faintly. "You have done well, Aria. I commend your efforts." Aria bowed low. "I live to please you my lord." Darkstar's red eyes flared up. He was drawing the orbs towards him. There was a flash of red light as he sucked the Crystal Orb's dry of all their power. When the light faded again, Damien, Lord of Darkstar stood where the red eyes had been. He was extremely pale with pitch-black hair that was slicked back. His eyes were red for only a brief instant, and then they were black as well. He wore a black tunic and a heavy black cloak. Taking a deep breath Damien laughed. "Ah! I feel the power of the Crystal Orbs flowing through my veins, flowing to the core of my being. I am whole again!" Laughing again Damien flung open his arms and a row of blue flames appeared in front of him. He flicked his wrists left and right and the flames formed a lighted pathway straight to his throne from the door. Aria stared in awe at all of this. "Lord Darkstar, what shall I do now?" Damien seemed to notice Aria for the first time. He swept down the stairs. "I never noticed how lovely you were before." Aria blushed. "Uh, thank you, Lord Darkstar." He touched her lips with his pale hand. "Call me Damien, please." Aria nodded dumbly. "Damien! Get your hands off her!" Rylie was there suddenly, pulling Aria away from the evil lord. Damien smiled, a cold unfeeling smile. "I forgot you two were lovers. Forgive me, brother." Rylie smiled. "That's quite alright as long as you never touch her lips again. That's my territory."  They all laughed, but the only one really laughing was Damien because Rylie and Aria both knew he'd try it again. Just then a white rose flew into their happy laugh-time. Rylie pushed Aria behind him and drew his sword. Damien stared at the rose and it withered, literally, in his gaze. "Evil doers! I have come for the Crystal Orbs so I might return them to their owners!" A figure dressed in immaculate white swept down. He was wearing an all white tuxedo, top hat and a mask. He carried a gold sword that gleamed with inner light. "Who are you, to intrude in this sanctuary of darkness?" Damien's face showed no emotion but slight amusement. Rylie snarled and crouched in battle position. "I am but a beam of light from the land of dreams. As I said before I have come for the stolen Crystal Orbs." Aria jumped out from behind Rylie, transformed into Black Moon now. " Too late! Lord Damien has already absorbed all their energy." The rose thrower showed no reaction, but glanced around for the shells of the Crystal Orbs. The orbs themselves were lying at the foot of Damien's immense throne, their light gone. He ran faster than the eye could see, scooped up the orbs and was gone again. "He had some nerve coming here. " Rylie said as he sheathed his sword. Black Moon turned to Damien. "Lord, will the fact that he stole the orbs interfere with our plans?" Damien was smiling darkly. "It might, if he knows what to do with them."

"Lea! Would you hurry it up? I've got a date tonight and I need to get ready!" Lee, the son of Mina, yelled while pounding on the bathroom door. The answer was light and happy. "Just a minute, Lee dear." Lee snorted and slumped against the wall near the door. "Right, 'just a minute' means twenty minutes at the least." He muttered, shoving a stray piece of blond hair out of his face. Then, the door opened and Lea emerged. She looked just like her mother only her blue eyes had some gray and she wore an orange bow in her hair. Throwing a pleased look at her twin, Lea flipped her long hair. "Done!" Lee growled and slammed the bathroom door behind him. "Well, someone missed their afternoon nap today!" Lea laughed at her own joke while jogging down the stairs. "Mom! Dad! I'm leaving!"  Mina rounded the corner, coming from the kitchen, holding a sauce-covered spoon. "Wait just a cotton picking minute, young lady. You're grounded, remember?" Lea looked thoroughly hurt. "But mother! Today is my last day of freedom before I have to endure a year of living with nine other girls in one room. Please, mother. I need this shopping day." Mina frowned, but looked like she was about to break down. As if on cue, Andrew (yes, the arcade Andrew married Mina after he and Rita broke up) entered the room. "Hello ladies. Mmmm! What smells so good?" He was totally ignored. "Lea, you were out past curfew last night doing who knows what with who knows who! I've obviously been too lenient on you and your brother so I'm not going to buckle this time." "Mom!" Lea's voice hit the whiney maximum. Andrew, seeing an easy way out of this whole thing as Lee walked casually past, grabbed his son and yanked him into the fray. "Hey! I've got a great idea! Lee, you go with Lea as her chaperone. That way she won't get into trouble and its still like being grounded." A silence of deep thought followed the revelation. "Dad! I have a date!" Lee groaned and squirmed out of his father's grasp. "Honey! What a great idea. Lee and Lea need some time to bond anyway. A trip to the Shopping Center should do the trick." Now Mina and Andrew were shoving the twins out the front door and down the sidewalk. Lee's slick car was gleaming in the street. "Mom! Dad!" They cried in unison. "Have a good time!" Their parents answered before galloping into the house. Lea grinned. "I win again, brother dear." She jumped into the passenger side door. Lee laughed as he got in the driver's side and started the car. "No Lea, I think mom and dad won this round." Defeated, Lea nodded sadly.

        Three hours and more then twenty stores later, the twins stopped to rest at a little sidewalk cafe. It was dark now and the stars glimmered overhead. Lee dropped his burden of bags and boxes before plopping into the chair. Lea smiled knowingly at her brother. "Aw! Poor baby! I'm exhausted too, ya know." Lee rolled his eyes. "Right. Trying on the same shoes in three different stores must be real hard on one's body." Lea nodded. "I'm totally hyped up about CTU, aren't you? I can't wait to get away from mom and dad for a whole year." "They're gonna come visit us, you know that don't you? And we have to go there for the holidays, too." Lea made a mock-sad face and sniveled. "Oh! You're so horrible to me, taking all the joy out of the one thing I've always wanted." Lee rolled his eyes again. This time something caught his attention at another table. A sad looking girl with shoulder length brown-blond hair stirring a cold looking coffee. "Beautiful." He breathed staring into her yellowy brown eyes. She looked up and locked gazes with him. She smiled and Lee smiled his most 'Hi, I'm too cute!' smile and stood up. He took a seat at the blonde's table. "Why hello there. I just couldn't help but notice you, a beautiful lady, sitting alone on such a lovely night." The blond giggled. "Yes, well, you seemed quite attentive to that other girl over there." She spoke with a heavy French accent. "That's my sister the Shopaholic." The girl laughed, a tinkling sound that filled the air. Lee held out his hand and gently took hers, kissing it lightly. "I am Lee, your knight in shining armor. I will rescue you from sadness and loneliness." Blushing slightly, the girl toyed with her hair. "My name is Jesse belle." "A lovely name for a lovely-HEY!" Lea had stormed up behind Li during his little speech and grabbed his ear. "I just hate to interrupt, but mom wanted us home ten minutes ago, Romeo." She dragged him away, but not before he could yell, "We'll meet again, lovely Jesse belle!" "I know we will!" Jessebelle called back, her eyes glinting strangely.

        Lea crossed her arms and tapped her foot while Lee hurried to gather the bags and boxes from the ground. "If I get home late because you and Frenchie over there were sharing a tender moment, I swear I'll tell everyone about your little friend, Mr. Teddy." Lee blanched and quickened his step. "Mr. Teddy is a secret, Lea and I know you wouldn't want all you friends to know about your eating problem." Lea froze mid-step. "Lee! You wouldn't!" "Utter a word about Mr. Teddy and everyone will know." They continued in silence, down the street, around a couple of corners and finally, the twins sighted Lee's car. "Thank goodness!" Lea grumbled, hurrying a little. But something stopped Lee from going on. "Lea!" He hissed. She turned and narrowed her eyes. "What is it?" "Did you hear that noise?" The street was quiet except for the far off sound of a pair of high-heeled shoes clicking towards them. Lea hurried back to Lee. "Someone's coming." Lea's voice quivered in a low, fear filled whisper. Lee tensed visibly as the walking grew louder. Suddenly, the walking sound stopped and a blast of dark energy threw them both into the nearby wall. Lea's screams filled the air and then stopped horribly quickly. "Well, well, well! Look who it is! The Venus twins." Sailor Black Venus stepped into the wreckage of the wall. "Tsk, tsk! I thought you'd put up a fight." She bent down and picked up Li. "Too bad I have to kill you. You're so unbearably cute." Black Venus cooed in a French accent. Then she formed a beam of black energy with her free hand and prepared to plunge it into Lee's chest. Lea's form hurled into Black Venus, throwing all three of them to the ground. "Back off, you bitch!" Lea screamed, rushing to see if Lee was okay. "Lee! You alright?" Lee opened his eyes and smiled crookedly. "Yeah, I'm fine." Lea blinked her tears away and smacked Lee on the arm. "You big jerk! You had me worried there for a minute." Another blast of energy interrupted them. Luckily, Black Venus was a horrible shot and she missed. "Who are you and what do you want?" Lee shouted while shakily standing. "I am Sailor Black Venus, the warrior of lust and misleading actions! In the name of Black Venus, I'll crush you and steal your Crystal Orbs!" "Crystal whats?" Lea blurted back. Black Venus scoffed at them. "Are you ignorant or what? Didn't you hear about the attack on Crystal Palace last Saturday? Your mother was there." Lee growled. "You were there too, only you were one of the ones who hurt the Royal family and their advisors." "Including mom!" Lea chimed in. Black Venus yawned. "Let's get this over with!" 

_Black Venus Love and Beauty Shock!_

                The attack flew at them and in that split second their lives flashed before their eyes. Just then, a figure dressed in pink and red stepped in front of them and deflected the attack, calling,

_Pink Crystal Storm!_

_          The pink crystals broke Black Venus' attack. Furious, Black Venus prepared to run at them, but she tripped over her own feet, falling. "You saved us!" Lea jumped up and clapped for their hero. Sailor Neo-Moon grinned. "That's my job. I'm Sailor Neo-Moon and you two need to get out of here now." Lee and Lea shook their heads in unison. "No way! We want to find out why that freak was after us."  Lee pointed at Black Venus, who was currently gathering energy again. "This time I'll get all of you!" _

A black aura flared into life around her and her eyes went red.

_ Darkstar Crystal Knife!_

                Three knives of energy formed above her head and then flew at Neo-Moon, Lee and Lea. Neo-Moon dodged easily and swore under her breath realizing that neither of them could do the same. Their screams of pain sliced through her brain. "NO!" She screamed, turning just in time to see two Crystal Orbs forming above their falling bodies. Both of them had the symbol of Venus inside them. The Orb above Lea was orange with a yellow symbol and white wings. Lee's was a yellow orb with an orange symbol and white wings. Neo-Moon called to them. "Lee! Lea! You have to fight this! Reach out for the orbs above you and hurry!" Through all the orange and yellow light, the Moon Soldier saw the twins join hands and reach for the Orbs. Right before their hands met the Crystal Orbs, transformation pens that were the opposite color as the Orb itself appeared. Locking eyes, Lee and Lea grabbed the pens and, in unison, cried,

_Venus Crystal Orb Power!_

        Orange and yellow ribbons that had stars within them shot out of the twin Orbs. The star-ribbons criss crossed around both of them. Forming each part of their suits. Lea's bows were orange, her skirt and collar yellow, her brooch was her Crystal Orb of Venus, her heels (just like Sailor Venus') were yellow, her choker was orange with a yellow symbol of Venus on it and her tiara was gold with a yellow symbol of Venus on it. Lee's outfit (think full body suit including a belt) was a yellow suit with orange collar and sleeve cuffs. There was an orange symbol of Venus on the front of the suit and on the back of the yellow cape. The other side of the cape was orange. A gold bow and arrow set appeared for him too. They finished together and posed back to back.

        Black Venus kicked the ground and made obscene gestures at Neo-Moon and the new Venus warriors. "Sailor Neo-Venus and the Knight of Venus are here, so have no fear! Fighting in the name of love that's pure and true, we'll punish you!" They said this all in unison, so it sounded even more forbidding. "Alright! Reinforcements!" Sailor Neo-Moon ran to the new warriors winking at them. "Let's get her!" Neo-Venus cried. The Knight of Venus nodded, smiling. He launched his attack, accompanied by one of his arrows. 

_Venus Mega Love Chain Mummify!_

        The arrow landed right in front of Black Venus, but then a group of orange chains, made of hearts, sprung from it. They mercilessly wrapped themselves around her. "Neo-Venus! Your turn!" He cried to his sister who jumped forward.

_Venus Crescent Beam Gattling!_

        A ball of yellow energy formed above her head and when she said 'Gattling!' orange and yellow beams of light shot at the trapped Black Venus. Screaming in agony, Black Venus collapsed. "Yes!" Neo-Moon cried. The Venus twins slapped each other a high-five. "Grr! I won't forget this!" In a glimmer of dark yellow light, she was gone. Sailor Neo-Moon laughed full out. "This is so cool! You guys are part of the Neo-Team, now." She closed her eyes suddenly and detransformed. "Princess?!" They said at the same time. Rini laughed again and nodded. "Just call me Rini because we're gonna be friends now." Thus, two stars joined the moon that night, glimmering above the crystal city.

                        When Black Venus arrived back in the Darkstar Dimension, Aria and the other Black Soldiers greeted her, angrily. "We saw the whole thing, you klutz!" Black Jupiter (the one with the ponytail) screamed. Aria narrowed her eyes and said nothing. Black Venus fell to the ground, her body ripped with wounds from the fierce attacks of the newly formed Neo-Team. "Back off, Eve!" Black Mercury, the Black Scout with the dark, dark blue hair, knelt beside Black Venus. Eve snorted. "She's still a wimp." Before walking away, she threw this insult over her shoulder. "She'll recover in time as long as she stays here." Black Mars said as she fixed her blood red hair. Aria smiled secretly. "You have all the time in this dimension to get her back in shape. But if I need her, she had better be ready. That goes for you three too." She teleported out of their chamber without another word. 

                In Crystal Tokyo, Rini sat in her parents' study. They were giving her a pep talk about life at a boarding school. "Rini, we won't be able to visit you every weekend like all the other parents, but we promise to try." Endymion said. He was leaning forward in his chair, trying to see Rini's reaction to all this. Serenity was casually playing with a strand of her golden hair. Rini nodded and flashed her father a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Hey! I found out that I'll be rooming with Lea." This seemed to spark Serenity's interest. "Really? You'll have time to discuss Scout business." Rini shook her head. "Also, there's gonna be seven other girls rooming with us." "Oh. Well, at least you'll have Lea to relate to." Serenity smiled and tried to fight back her tears. "Serenity, don't start with that again." Endymion said in mock-annoyance. "I cannot help it. She's my baby and now she's going away." Rini stood up jumpily. "Whoa! Would you look at the time! I have got to get some sleep. See you both in the morning." And then she was gone.

        Hurrying down the hall, Rini glanced down at the communicator Amy had given her. It looked just like a wristwatch, but it had extra buttons. The red one on the side turned it into a communicator that would show a holographic image of whoever was sending the message. It was pretty cool! Rini pressed the red button and then the little yellow button. Lea's image appeared readily. "Hey Lea!" "Hey Rini! How'd it go with your parents?" "Well, mama cried and papa reminded me that they were too busy to visit, blah blah." Lea laughed. "Sounds pretty typical of those two." "Lea, did you and Lee tell your mom and dad about, well, you know." Lea shook her head. "No way! I'm waiting until tomorrow so they have to ask less questions." "Haha! Good plan." "I know. I've gotta get some sleep. See ya tomorrow!" "Bye." Lea's image fizzled out and the communicator returned to a watch. Rini smiled as a familiar, but long lost, feeling flooded her. 'I just made a new best friend.'


	3. Of Flame and Soul

Raye stomped down the hall of the old-style Japanese house. She flung open the sliding door to the last room on the hall and stomped in, fuming. "Zachery Hino! You had better have a very good excuse for waking up late!" A muffled groan sounded from within the gloom of the room. It smelled of old socks and rotten food in there and it was a jungle of dirty clothes, a variety of hover boards (just like a skateboard only without wheels; it hovers), and a cherry red drum set. Raye wrinkled her nose at the filth and the stench. "Zach! Get up now or you'll be late for your first day of CTU." A head popped up from the nest of red and black blankets on the bed, or it looked like a bed. It had dark brown hair, mussed from sleep, accompanied by a pair of drowsy dark violet eyes. "Wha-" His words were interrupted by a yawn. "What time is it?" Raye pointed to the digital clock that was hanging by its cord from the edge of the nearby desk. In blazing red numbers, it read "7:53" Tanaka made a little startled noise and tossed his blankets off of his body. He was wearing a pair of cute red and black striped boxers (;}). Raye laughed behind her hand. "You are hilarious, really you are." She turned away and walked back down the hall. Zach half fell, half jumped into the hall immediately afterwards. "Whoa! Not cool!" He raced around the corner. Less than five minutes later, he was back in his room. His hair was spiked now so you could see the dyed red tips. He rushed getting dressed in an already wrinkled CTU uniform. Navy slacks, a white blouse, and a red blazer-jacket with a gold CTU scrolled on the front pocket. Again, he rushed out of the room and around the same corner as before. This time he slid into the kitchen where Raye was trying to feed a reluctant toddler. Raye muffled another laugh and looked at the clock on the wall. "Woo! New record, 9 minutes. Chad put that one in the books." Chad, his hair neatly trimmed now, grinned like the Cheshire cat and leaned down, scribbling something on the counter with an invisible pen. Zach snatched a piece of toast from the other child's, 12 or so, plate. "Oh ha ha! You guys are hilarious. Ma, you gonna drive me?" Raye shook her head and grinned goofily at the toddler in the highchair. "No, it's your father's turn to drive." She said this all in baby talk. Chad grabbed some keys off the counter, chugged a mug of coffee, and signaled his son. "Let's go, boy." Zach kissed his mom and smacked the young pre-teen boy on the head. "See ya, dip stick!" He chanted, ignoring his mother's stern glance. "And I'll see you on Saturday." This was directed at Raye who smiled knowingly. "Have a good week at school, dear." Zach saluted and marched out of the room.

        "Well, you want me to come in with you?" Chad asked as they pulled up to the university. Zach quivered with fear inwardly and pulled his duffle bag out of the trunk. "Nah. I'm good." Chad slapped him on the back. "Remember, when it comes to the ladies, don't do anything I wouldn't do." Zach forced a smile and a nod before turning. 'Gross! I don't even wanna know.' He thought to himself, shuddering at the thought of his dad flirting with anyone but his mom. "Yo! Z! Wait up, man!" A gruff voice called from behind him as he jogged up the immense school's main flight of stairs. Zach stopped. "Hey, hey, CJ! How's it rollin'?" He said to the tall guy who ran up next to him. He had messy white-blond hair and blue-green eyes. "Pretty good, pretty good." His blouse was untucked and he had his blazer slung over his shoulder. The two guys nonchalantly walked up the rest of the stairs and pushed the massive doors open. "Sure it's big enough, but just think about all the classes." CJ said in a high-pitched voice, throwing his hand out and flipping it around. Zach chuckled at his friend. Simultaneously, they looked at a group of passing girls with a studied casual nature. "Nice uniforms they've got here, eh CJ?" Zach whispered, pointing at the girls. The uniforms for the girls were a whole lot more fashionable than the old ones. Tight red skirts that barely reached the knee and tight white blouses with the CTU emblem on the pocket. CJ grinned greedily. "Sure are nice this year." 

Smiling at the perverted nature with which all-teenaged boys dealt with, a tall woman dressed in a business suit approached them. "Hello, gentlemen. I am Ms. Hawkins and I will be your history teacher this year." Zach and CJ stared at her without blinking. She was amazingly attractive, for a teacher. Her hair was a fascinating mix of red and orange that seemed to switch between the two when she moved her head. Her eyes were a hypnotic deep, deep green. She smiled at their hesitation and their quick overview of her entire body. "May I ask your names?" Zach pulled himself together. "Uh yeah! I'm Zach Hino and he's CJ Tenoh." The deep green eyes glimmered faintly. "Welcome to Crystal Tokyo University, both of you. Today is a day for you to get acquainted with the school and your new roommates. First, I'll show you to your room. This way." With a curt nod at both of them, Ms. Hawkins turned down the hall, walking semi-quickly.

        She brought them to a large dorm room with seven beds in it. A large desk with a nice computer and a plain table with chairs were the only other furnishings. Despite its lack of furniture, the room was quite nice. Tanaka tossed his duffle bag down on the bed furthest from the door. CJ plopped down on the bed opposite Zach's. "I guess it's a nice room." Zach said this only loud enough for CJ to hear. The rebellious teen nodded and tossed his head in Ms.Hawkins' direction. "She's pretty okay herself."  Zach snickered quietly and Ms.Hawkins cleared her throat. "At precisely nine a.m. all students are to meet in the main hall. I'm sure you two know where that is?" They nodded in unison. "Good. I'll see you later then." She closed the door quietly behind her. Zach clicked the computer on and stared at the screen. "Boring! It's all just educational stuff. Snoresville." CJ smacked Zach's back hard. "Well, duh, dingle berry. Its a school." Zach smirked. "Yeah, so!" They just sat there a minute staring around the room. "So I guess there's gonna be five more guys in here, eh?" Zach motioned to the beds. CJ shrugged. "Maybe. Or those beds could just be spares and we could be the only ones in here." Zach wrinkled his nose, just like Raye had earlier. "That'd be too boring. No one to pick on." CJ mocked a thoughtful look and headed for the door. "Come on, Z! Let's go explore this fine establishment of education." Zach pulled his blazer off and untucked his shirt. "Let's roll!"

"Geez! Did they make enough hallways, or what?" Zach growled as the two stood at yet another crossroads of halls. They were totally lost. CJ punched the wall, leaving a tiny dent. "This is crazy! Its already ten and we haven't seen another human for, what, an hour?" Zach shrugged, at a total loss. He studied the paved courtyard directly below them. Across that courtyard, a large group of students stood staring at nothing at all. "Hey, CJ! Check it out!" He pointed to the group of zombie-like teens. CJ leaned closer. "Kooky!" They locked eyes for an instant. "Let's go!" Zach unlocked the window and hopped out, landing a few feet down in a bush. The crashing thud moments later let him know CJ had followed suit. He stood, brushing the leaves and twigs off his shirt. "Dude, this place would be awesome for a hover board session!" Zach had quickly noted the confusing twists of the walkways and the bush maze that stood between them and the zombie-people. CJ grunted. "Great, now how 'bout we think about that maze, huh?" Zach didn't really like thinking overmuch. It made his head hurt (heh heh!). "All we can do is plunge in right ole boy?" He said with a prim British accent. CJ smirked. "Cheerio, pip!" He answered similarly. They cracked up and jogged into the maze. 

        "I think we should stick together, CJ." Tanaka called out to his friend, or rather the empty passageway of bushes behind him. "CJ?" He called out again. Whipping around he glared at the emptiness. "Not funny! Come on, man!" It had gone deathly still all of the sudden, not even the birds' chirping could be heard. Gulping loudly, Zach turned back around. 'Creepy. One minute he's there, the next, gone.' His thoughts flew around his head crazily, spurred on by the bar of cold fear that pulsed in his chest. "You know, Zachery Hino, you really shouldn't be out here alone." A cool voice called from above him. Leaping sideways, Zach looked up. Sailor Black Mars sat, well, on the air, smiling cruelly. "W-Who are you?" Trying desperately not to let the tone of panic take control. "I am your worst nightmare." She held out her hand.

_Black Mars Fire Ignite!___

His eyes widened at the spiraling flames headed straight for him. Three figures appeared out of nowhere and stopped the flames with a wall of orange, yellow, and pink energy. "Rgh! You again, pinky?" Black Mars jumped down, hands akimbo. "That's right, Sailor Black Mars! I am Sailor Neo-Moon, warrior of Truth and Justice!" The one with pink hair struck a commanding pose, pointing at the fiery vixen. Stepping up beside her, the others struck poses as well, calling in unison. "And we're the Neo-Team!" "In the name of the Moon," Neo-Moon cried. "And Venus," Called the duo and then all three finished off. "We'll punish you!"  Black Mars showed no response but a casual head tip. "Really? Would you still punish me if I did this?" Raising her hand she closed her eyes. Rings of dark red energy flew out from her in every direction before flying towards the group of zombie-like students Zach and CJ had seen earlier. The students turned in the direction of the group within the bush maze, their eyes blank and lifeless. "Come to me my minions! Come help me dispose of these losers!" Black Mars cackled unattractively at her own comments.

 Neo-Moon turned to her companions. "Get him out of here! I'll try to stop Black Mars!" Nodding, they turned to Zach. A sweet smile plastered on her face, the blond girl held out her hand to the terrified teen. "Come on, its not safe here." The guy standing with the blond noticed Neo-Moon struggling in Black Mars' physic grasp. "Neo-Venus, you get him to safety and hurry back. I'll help Neo-Moon." He turned and ran to his 'fearless leader', who was cowering below Black Mars' feet. Zach was too busy being in shock to hear Neo-Venus' words. He was focusing on the intense anger that had risen in him. Accompanying that anger there was an immense burst of mental energy. Suddenly understanding, Zach jumped up from his position on the ground. Neo-Venus sighed. "Finally! Come on!" "No, I can help!" Zach exclaimed to the warrior. She merely smiled. "Uh, I don't think you'd do much damage to her as you currently are." Confused by her last comment, Zach shook his head. "I don't get what you just said, but I know I can help." The blond girl groaned as the hotheaded teen rushed to his doom. 

Sailor Black Mars laughed maniacally at the writhing figures at her feet. Neo-Moon and the Knight of Venus were trapped in a web of terror, in their own minds. Black Mars chuckled when she saw the zombie-students round the corner and pin Neo-Venus down. Zach, on the other hand, fought his instincts to run and shouted at the evil Mars wannabe. "Hey! Bimbo! I'm the one you want, so let them go!" Black Mars turned her attention to her original target. "Nothing is that simple, son of Raye. I was after you in the first place, buy they also have something I desire." "And that would be?" Zach was amazed at how well he was handling this situation. About twenty zombie-students were charging at him and his only chances for survival were out of commission. Sailor Black Mars held her hand up and shouted, "Why tell you when I can just show you!" A black aura surrounded her and all the physic alarms went off in Zach's head. "GO! Run now!" Neo-Venus had freed herself from the grasp of the students and was running towards Zach. Focusing on his anger again, Zach pulled on the energy and pushed it at Black Mars with all his might. The force pushed on the woman, but didn't seem to affect her. Neo-Venus was pulling on his arm yelling, "COME ON! We have to run!" "It didn't work?!" Judging from his dazed expression Neo-Venus gave up and started working on getting her two team mates out of there. "You are too late, fool! I have won!" Black Mars' eyes were red and the aura intensified.

_Darkstar Crystal Knife!___

        Four beams of black energy formed above her and began rushing towards the helpless people below. Neo-Venus had managed to pull her comrades out of their terror-inflicted stupors. They busied themselves setting up a series of energy attacks to deflect the beams. Seconds before the beams found purchase in the three warriors, they all cried,

_Pink Crystal Storm!___

_Venus Crescent Beam Gattling!___

Ultimate Venus Crescent Beam Smash! 

            The pink, orange, and yellow energy attacks hit the black beams, dissipating them. However, Zach had no such energy attack to throw at the beam headed his way. Frozen with absolute terror, he could only watch as the beam sliced into him. Pain like he had never experienced shot through every nerve in his body and his mind plunged into darkness.

        Screwing up her face, Sailor Neo-Moon quickly readied her next attack. The Knight of Venus groaned and slumped forward, still dazed from Black Mars' physic blasts. Sailor Neo-Venus squealed in terror when she saw Zach's body crumple under the black knife. A dark violet orb with a red symbol of Mars and white wings appeared before Zach's chest in a swirl of flames. Matching looks of defeat crossed the Neo-Team's faces as Black Mars lowered herself to grab the Crystal Orb of Mars. Neo-Venus couldn't stand losing and so screamed through the pain-induced tears, "Zach! You have to reach out for the fire within! Please!"  

        However futile her screams seemed to Black Mars, Zach heard them in the inky blackness of his mind. 'Fire within? What's she talking about?' His thoughts drifted aimlessly through the sea of disconnected pain and silence in his head. "_Zach! Please! You-AHHHHHH!!!" _Neo-Venus' screams echoed away into darkness. Black Mars must have blasted her. 'Dammit! I have to help them! They saved me!' And so, following the warrior's instructions, Zach focused on the same mental flames he had used earlier to attack Black Mars. This time, they took the shape of the Crystal Orb that appeared before him. 'This time, please work!' He thought and both mentally and physically he reached out for the Orb. Just before his hand made contact with the Orb, a red transformation stick appeared, connecting to the Crystal Orb of Mars. Opening his eyes, Zach grinned at the shocked Black Mars and grabbed the stick, calling,

_Mars Crystal Orb Power!___

Flames shot out of the Crystal Orb and surrounded Zach's body. The shadow of a huge dragon circled around behind him as the flames formed his suit. The suit itself was dark violet with red sleeve cuffs and a red collar. There was a red symbol of Mars on the front of the suit and the cape was dark violet with a red symbol of Mars on the back and the front of the cape was red. The dragon came closer and roared, blowing fire all around Zach once again, forming a pair of daggers that had mini Crystal Orbs of Mars on their hilts. 

        All those present stared in awe at the flashy transformation. When the flames died down, a focused looking young warrior proudly glared at the evil soldier. Black Mars was totally outraged and kicked at the nearest bush, knocking it over. Sailors Neo-Venus and Neo-Moon were grinning ear to ear and the Knight of Venus sighed in relief. Now he wasn't the only guy on the team. "Sailor Black Mars! You have used your physic abilities for evil and for that you must be punished! I am the Knight of Mars! I fight for Truth and Justice and in the name of Mars, my fire will scourge your evil soul!" "Yeah! I knew he could do it!" Neo-Venus giggled and twirled around. Neo-Moon smiled at the new knight. "Go for it!" The Knight of Venus cried. Mars nodded. "Black Mars, prepare to fight fire with fire!"

_Mars Magma Blaster!___

He held the twin blades above him until they glowed white-hot. Then he threw them into the ground and magma bubbled up from somewhere. Mars pointed at Black Mars and the magma shot up at her, encasing her in this burning ring of lava. Neo-Moon and the others ran over to Mars. "That was impressive." Neo-Moon said this admirably. Neo-Venus just smiled sweetly, almost the smile she used on guys she liked. Almost. The Knight of Venus slapped his new friend on the back and chuckled. "Well, with that flashy transformation and that attack, who needs us?" Mars blushed and smiled slightly but the tingling feeling that signified Black Mars' presence was still in his head. The magma had dried now and Black Mars was trapped inside, or so they thought. She had long since teleported away. 

        The zombie students collapsed the same moment the tingling left Mars' head. Neo-Moon checked the nearest student. "They'll be fine. Just a little lost feeling I'm sure."  She said. Mars wiped his forehead. "This was an eventful first day here, I'll tell ya that much!" The Venus twins and Neo-Moon locked eyes and they de-transformed immediately. Mars stared first at Princess Lady Serenity, who was wearing her uniform for CTU, and then he stared at the twins who were also wearing uniforms. "I guess we all go here then?" The three nodded. Lee shook the newest member of the Team's hand. "Welcome, Zach Hino, to the Neo Team!" Lea giggled again and put up the 'V for Victory!' sign. "And then there were four!" Rini exclaimed laughing as well. 

        So much later on that night, when the moon was rising and all the students were getting finished with dinner, Zach stopped Lea right outside the mess hall. "Um I wanted to thank you." Zach said shyly. Lea smiled and waved on her huge group of friends. "What are you talking about, Zach?" He fidgeted and kicked the ground slightly. "Before, back there in the maze, when you called out to me. Thanks. It saved my life." Lea's prefect smile faltered, but he didn't notice since he was staring at the ground. "Your welcome, I guess. Just doing what I should. Gotta go! See ya!" She smiled again, waved, and jogged away. Zach sighed and messed up his own hair. "Geez! I always screw that sorta thing up!" Secretly, he was starting to like that girl. And so, when the moon was glowing brightly in the sky, twin stars and a new red star joined it, shining down on Crystal Tokyo.


	4. The Cold Shoulder

"You failed, Rhian, and you begged me for that mission." Aria showed no emotion as the beaten and burned Black Mars appeared before her. "I am truly sorry, Princess. But the new one is strong. Very strong." Aria took another sip of the deep red liquid she was drinking before throwing the glass at Rhian. "Fool! If you would've just taken his Crystal Orb before he could use it this wouldn't have happened! Lord Darkstar is not going to be happy with us now. We've lost too many!" Rhian flinched. "I could try again, Princess. Maybe I could trick them somehow." Aria's lips twisted into an evil grin. "That will not be necessary." She pointed at the terrified soldier and black energy shot at her. Rhian screamed in agony before a beam of black light swallowed her and she disappeared. Suddenly, Black Mercury appeared, her eyes filled with cold fury. "What did you do to my sister, Princess?" Aria's grin faded and she stood, gliding down the few stairs from her mock-throne to where Black Mercury was standing. "Aura, she is resting peacefully in a chamber of silence. I will release her when her wounds are fully healed." Aura, her mask of cold anger gone, nodded. "I should thank you for helping her then." "No need for thanks, warrior. You need only do all that I ask." Aura bowed low. "Of course, my princess. I will do anything you ask of me." Aria smiled and her eyes glimmered strangely. She produced a viewing orb that held the image of a pale, blue haired girl. "This is the next target. A descendent of Mercury, your rival planet. All you have to do is steal her Crystal Orb before those silly Neo-Scouts have the chance to save her." Aura looked deeply into the orb, emotionlessly. Then she smiled maliciously. "Simple. I shall not fail you, Princess." She disappeared in a flicker of dark blue light and Aria smiled again. An oily voice whispered out of the darkness. "Aria, is everything going according to plan?" Aria, her eyes going red, spoke in monotone. "Of course, Lord Darkstar. All is in place for your total domination." Simultaneously, they both began laughing, but it was the same voice that was laughing, not two.

She could tell she was going to hate her roommates. One was royalty, one was a preppy ditz, one was a silent gothic girl, one was a total punk and the last one was a tomboy to no end. Marina stared at her dorm mates coldly, with an analytical nature that was shocking. Her light blue hair fell just to her shoulders and she never bothered to do much with it. Her eyes were like ice, a light shade of blue that struck fear into every guy's heart. A pair of light, silver framed glasses sat in front of those eyes. Marina sat on her bed staring at her roommates, watching as they settled into their life here at CTU. The royal one, Princess Lady Serenity AKA Rini, and the cheerleader Lea Aino, sat chattering away on the princess' bed. They seemed to have already known each other prior to coming to the university. The Goth girl, with her pale skin, dark purple hair, and silent nature scared Marina and she was rarely scared of anything. Tara Tomoe, or the Goth girl, stood beside her bed setting a bunch of pictures of her and her family on the bedside table. Marina felt a pang of sorrow when she saw Tara setting those pictures there, a happy looking family. Well, only her parents looked happy, Tara looked like she always did, silent and slightly angry at the world. Marina had never felt happiness with her family situation. Her mother was a genius scientist who worked in the Palace and her father was always away on business somewhere. 

As for the other two roommates, the punk and the tomboy, they were staring each other down from opposite sides of the room. Marina identified them as Nicole Kaioh AKA Nikki (the punk) and Kylie Kino (the tomboy). She could almost taste the tension between them. Sighing, she reached into her bag and pulled out a laptop. Typing something into it quickly, Marina pulled up a program that looked similar to a diary. She typed so fast that it caught the attention of her roommates, who flocked over to the quiet girl. All of them except Tara who simply sat on her bed and stared. Creepy. "Whatcha doing?" Lea Aino asked in her happy-go-lucky voice. Rini leaned closer to Marina's screen and tried to catch the words as they flew past. Nikki and Kylie merely watched with a disinterested air. Noticing her audience, Marina gasped and snapped the computer shut. All the spectators jumped at the sudden sound, except Tara. Marina jumped up and ran out of the room, carrying her laptop. Lea put her hands on her hips. "What'd we do?" Rini shrugged. "Who knows? She's like her mom, really withdrawn until there's a commonality between her and a group." Nikki glared at Kylie and Kylie threw her hands up in defeat. "I'm going to bed. See you in class tomorrow, dorm pals." She laughed quietly and slipped into her bed, the one next to Marina's. The others dispersed to their own beds, goodnights were said, and the lights went out.

Meanwhile, Marina was leaning against a wall a long way away from her room. She hated people staring at her and she hated nosey people. If all her roommates were nosey, she was going to hate them twice as much as she thought she was. Closing her eyes, she tried to envision her computer at home, her only friend. She had designed the CPU's personality (in the future I hope we can do this!) to be a mother figure since hers wasn't exactly reliable. She was so heartbroken when she was told she couldn't bring it or a backup disk. Even though she had her laptop, Bonnie, the CPU, had to be left at home. Marina missed her already. Opening her eyes, she slumped to the floor and opened the laptop. Her diary was still there and she looked over what she had so far.

Dear Diary,           Today was the first day that I spent in Crystal Tokyo University, the newest and best high school in all Japan. I was accepted here for my intelligence, seeing as I am two grades ahead in all my studies. I met my history teacher Ms. Hawkins and it seems that History of the Sailor Soldiers is our topic this year. I for one do not believe in that sort of nonsense. Magical girls, indeed! I would like to meet one of these so-called "Sailor Soldiers" so I can prove them wrong. On another note, today went rather smoothly. Few people bothered to speak with me which is all the same since do not yearn for the company of people with a lower intelligence than mine. And that brings me to the source of my greatest discomfort here. My roommates. They all seem to be either stuck up, too happy with life, too unhappy with life, or all together too violent. I fear for my safety and my sanity in the company of such hooligans as the ones I have been stuck with this year. Classes start tomorrow and I That was where it stopped since her roommates had interrupted her. Marina finished the sentence and ended the entry quickly. Classes start tomorrow and I look forward to learning all I can at this new university. Until I next write, I bid you farewell.                                                 ~Marina Mizuno~ Closing the portable computer silently, Marina stood and looked around herself for the first time. She didn't know where she was and a spear of panic rushed up her spine. It was strictly against the rules to be out of your dorm room after lights out. If she was caught breaking the rules on the first night her mother and father would not be very happy. Not to mention how bad that would look on her college resume. Taking a deep breath and forcing herself not to freak, she opened her laptop once more. Accessing a map of the school from the CTU website, Marina quickly pinpointed her position. Then she mapped out a route to her room. Sighing and silently patting herself on the back for bringing the computer with her, Marina began following her plotted course. Roughly ten minutes later, much longer than it should take to get back to the room, Marina found herself at a dead end. Frustrated, she looked over the map carefully. This place wasn't on the map anywhere and she had no clue how to find out where she was. Chiding herself for whatever mistake she had made, she tried again to find this one corner in all the massive school. While she was checking again and again, the air grew steadily colder, until she could see her breath. Gasping Marina looked up in shock. 'When did it get so cold?' She thought shivering in her thin nightgown. The temperature kept dropping lower and lower until ice crystals were forming from the mist of her breath and on the walls. A quiet chuckle signaled the presence of another person in that freezing corner of nowhere. Marina looked at her screen and saw that it too was frozen. Under normal circumstances she would have been able to find out exactly what or who was chuckling out there (that computer program sound familiar?). Marina backed away into the corner as a figure appeared out of the icy mist that had suddenly formed. The mist swirled away from the shadowy figure to reveal a woman dressed as a Sailor Soldier with black bows and a dark blue skirt, collar, and boots. Her deep, dark blue hair was short and it seemed brighter in contrast to her red eyes. Her tiara was gold with an oddly shaped dark blue crystal on it. She smiled coldly. "Marina Mizuno, daughter of the almighty Dr. Amy Mizuno, correct?" The woman's voice was cold and bordered on totally emotionless. Marina wasn't as scared as any normal person would've been. She didn't scare all that easily. "Correct. I am she." The woman's smile broadened. "Then allow me to introduce myself. I am Sailor Black Mercury, the warrior of ice and total destruction. And you have something I want."  Her arms had been crossed across her chest the whole time but she pointed them both, wrists together, at Marina. An eternal scientist, Marina was curious as a foggy sort of light started glowing around Black Mercury's palms. "Too bad you're cornered, huh?" Black Mercury said in mock-sadness before screaming, Black Mercury Ice Bubble FREEZE!  
        Bubbles of black ice flew at Marina quicker than she could react. She screamed at the sub-zero freezing her body was undergoing courtesy of the black bubbles. Black Mercury chuckled. "Oh I'm going to enjoy this." She stepped towards the steadily freezing teen girl. The black ice was creeping up from where the bubbles had hit on her legs. "What is this? Some sort of nitrogen?" Marina asked, still curious. Black Mercury's face fell and she stopped in her tracks. Marina's arms were still free and she broke a piece of the ice off and inserted it into her laptop's disc drive. Black Mercury frustratedly grabbed the computer and smashed it against the iced wall. Calmly, Marina stared at the villain. "Now, why did you do that? I am certain whatever you could want from me would be on that computer. I put all of my research there." Black Mercury laughed as the ice reached the girl's torso and froze her arms at her sides. "Well, lets just say I want something within your very soul." Confusion is something Marina rarely experienced, but she was thoroughly confused, not to mention terrified. She fought the urge to scream as Black Mercury's ice grew ever closer to her face. It crawled up her throat, slowly stopping her ability to speak and then with painful slowness came to her face. Marina gasped and drew in as much air as she could before the black ice slid over her mouth and nose. Being frozen in an unknown form of ice is not very pleasant and Marina didn't like it one bit. Especially when it froze her eyes and she couldn't see. Silently, she bid farewell to the world and gave herself to the feeling of blissful ice. Mars Fire Ignite!         A bolt of fire melted the ice around her and a pair of strong arms caught her. Still stunned, Marina merely laid there and listened. "Looks like the jig is up, Black Mercury!" A slightly familiar female voice called. "Yeah! You're way out of your league here!"  Another familiar female voice chimed in. The voice that had called out that attack phrase before called, "Your ice is no match for my fire, you witch!" And the one who had caught her also shouted at Black Mercury. "We are sworn to protect the innocent life on Earth." Those last two voices were guys, if you didn't know. "So, in the name of the Moon, Sailor Neo-Moon will punish you!" "And in the name of Mars!" "And Venus!" The whole group said this and the hands released her. Marina blinked up at her saviors and almost fainted. They looked like a group of Sailor Soldiers from legend. She gasped as they prepared to attack. Black Mercury scoffed at them. "Ha! I'm so sure that you weaklings can even scratch me! Let's rumble!" 

_Black Mercury Shine Aqua Illusion!_

        The mysterious soldiers nodded to the one in red and dark violet and he launched another flame attack to counter and stop the oncoming ice.

_Mars Celestial Fire Surround!_

        The rings of flame sizzled into the ice and it evaporated. Black Mercury laughed. "I grow tired of this, fools! Time to get what my companions failed to retrieve!" Her eyes went red and a black aura surrounded her. Again, Marina was less afraid than she should've been. She stood up and tried to get a closer look. The two male warriors stopped her. "Listen, we need to get out of here before she launches that attack!"  Said the blond guy. Neo-Moon nodded before turning to Marina. "Listen Marina, run out of here as fast as you can. Your life is in danger."  Marina shook her blue hair. "Not a chance. I have to see how she and you perform those marvelous magic tricks. Very interesting." She pushed her glasses farther up her nose. The blond girl in yellow and orange sighed. "Look, you've gotta go!" Mars interjected. "Wait! Remember what happened the last time one of these goons attacked us? I got my powers! Maybe it'll work again." Neo-Moon frowned and turned to the only non-warrior. "Marina, the coming process will be very painful but it may benefit the future of the planet. Are you willing to accept this?" Marina pondered for a moment and nodded. "Anything for science!" They all nodded. "Brace yourself."  Said the blond guy. Neo-Moon motioned her forward, in front of all of them. She heard a whoosh as they summoned a shield of energy around themselves only. Black Mercury smile and screamed,

_Darkstar Crystal Knife!_

        Five beams of black energy tore at them. Four were deflected off the shield, but the one meant for Marina hit her forcefully. A silent scream rushed out of her as it pierced her chest, sliding through her slowly. In the wake of the beam, a blue orb with white wings and a light blue symbol of Mercury was forming. Marina felt a strange peace float into her mind and she surrendered to the darkness. 

        The Neo-Team dropped the shield and ran to Marina. "Marina! You have to reach out for the blue light!"  Neo-Moon called to her. Neo-Venus grimaced. "Please, Marina! Fight it!" Mars looked at her sadly. "You're too young to die! Focus!" The Knight of Venus nodded and touched her shoulder gently. "Fight it, Marina, fight." Their comments and Venus' light touch pulled Marina from her blissful slumber in the darkness of her mind. The blue light they spoke of was glimmering just within her sight. '…Anything for science? Here it goes!' She thought as she pushed towards the light. Her physical hand reached out for the Crystal Orb and before they touched a light blue transformation stick appeared. Marina opened her eyes and grabbed the stick, thrust it into the air, and called,

_Mercury Crystal Orb Power!_

        Icy looking light blue ribbons shot out of the orb and wrapped around Marina. They formed her bodysuit, blue bows, light blue skirt and collar, her gloves, her normal blue choker with a light blue symbol of Mercury, her light blue boots with regular blue tops, and lastly her gold tiara with another light blue symbol of Mercury. The Crystal Orb came to rest as her brooch. The transformation ended when she posed just like her mother used to. Neo-Venus clapped and Neo-Moon smiled. Mars and Venus locked eyes and smiled, too. Black Mercury was the only one who seemed unhappy about Marina's ascension to Neo-Scout. She was fuming silently, glaring at the new Neo-Soldier. Marina stared down at herself and looked to her fellow warriors knowingly. She whipped back around to face Black Mercury. "I am Sailor Neo-Mercury, champion of Love and Justice! In the name of Mercury, planet of wisdom, I'll punish you for your evil deeds here!" The evil soldier kept staring silently. Neo-Mercury stared back, not afraid of making eye contact for once. She smiled coldly at her evil counterpart. "Weak." She breathed the word into the icy air and Black Mercury's eyes narrowed. "You call this weak?"

_Black Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!_

        Neo-Mercury leapt easily out of its path and the others followed suit. "Yes, I call that weak. I call this stronger than your menial mind can even begin to comprehend!"

_Mercury Polar Ice Crystals!_

        Spears of ice formed above her outstretched hands. She glared at her opponent and they took off at her. Black Mercury screamed as they ripped into her, wounding her terribly. "Whoo hoo! YAY NEO-MERCURY!" Neo-Venus and Neo-Moon called. Venus and Mars laughed at their fallen foe. Black Mercury stood up slowly and smiled lopsidedly. "This isn't over! I'll come back for you!" And she was gone in a glimmer of dark blue. Neo-Mercury was staring at her hands trying to figure out where the ice had come from. She decided to study this later because her new comrades suddenly surrounded her. "Welcome to the team, Marina, er, Sailor Neo-Mercury!" Neo-Venus hugged her, something Marina hated. Then the four of them detransformed and Marina was totally shocked to see two of her roommates and two rather cute guys all in their pajamas! "Wha-What?" Rini grinned from ear to ear. "I guess we have a commonality now and we can be really good friends!" Lea nodded energetically. Zach smiled shyly. "I guess we should be going then." Lee caught him staring at Marina, Lea, and Rini like a hungry wolf. He smiled and smacked his friend on the back of the head. "Yeah! Sleep time for us aspiring students!" They all started back to their dorms and the mysterious dead end disappeared into a sold wall. And so, an icy star joined the other stars and the moon in the sky later that night.  


	5. Rolling Thunder

****

        "What is your excuse, Aura? 'The new one was too strong.' If you so much as utter those words, I'll destroy your measly soul." Aria, furious at the latest failure, stood on her mini-throne, one hand pointing at Black Mercury, the other holding a sphere of crackling energy. "P-Princess, please! I was out numbered, they over powered me!" A smirk spread across the evil princess's face. "Oh right! So I'll send a whole legion of Shadow Warriors with you on your next mission and then you'll be fine?" The wounded warrior's face brightened. "Yes! That should be sufficient!" Aria's eyes, mostly red now, narrowed into angry slits and Black Mercury stumbled back from the throne. The crackling orb of energy grew larger as the princess raged on. "You and your comrades are almost equal to me in power and yet your still fail? Those weaklings cannot truly be _that_ powerful! I'll show you! Eve! Come forth!" There was a flicker of bright green energy and Black Jupiter appeared. She bowed. "Princess, you summoned me?" Black Mercury, obviously taken aback, gasped and glared at her leader and the newcomer. Aria's energy orb disappeared and her eyes went to normal again. "Eve, I need you to take up the next mission. I know you are the strongest of the Black Soldiers. You can succeed where the others before you failed." Black Mercury, ignoring her injuries, jumped forward exclaiming, "No! I can do this! Give me another chance, Princess! Eve is too hot headed! I could-" Aria's eyes went red again and a wave of black energy swallowed Black Mercury. She screamed and landed next to her sister in a soundproof, lightless chamber. Eve smiled evilly. "Princess I will succeed and show you that I should be your second in command." Aria merely nodded and sat back down as her faithful servant disappeared in another flicker of green energy. 

        Rylie was standing at the doorway of Aria's chamber watching the whole thing. His face was a stone hard mask of silent anger. That Aria was not the woman he loved. She was some possessed recreation of his lover. He closed his eyes sadly preparing to turn away since she hadn't noticed him. She usually would've seen him there, but she was just sitting there, eyes glowing red. Glancing back at her once more, Rylie left the chamber silently. 'Damien, what have done to her? I loved the person she was, not what she is now.' He thought, silently sending this to his 'brother.' 

                Kylie stared at the aqua haired nuisance with an off-handed nature. That girl had been staring at her like that since they met. It was really annoying and Kylie hated things that annoyed her. She also never backed down from a challenge and this girl was very obviously challenging her. Smiling pleasantly, Kylie waved at her foe happily. Caught off guard by this show of friendliness, the girl in the ponytail dropped her books. Kylie burst out laughing and all her other roommates looked over at her. Aqua hair, Nikki to her friends, glared at her and rushed out of the room. The two stuck up ones hurried over to Kylie. "Uh, you're Kylie Kino right? Lita's daughter?" Princess Lady Serenity asked curtly. Kylie groaned. "Yup, that's my name." The blond with the orange bow giggled goofily. Kylie hated giggles. "What's so funny about that?" She asked gruffly to the preppy blond. "Oh nothing! I was just gonna say that you looked like your mom." It was Kylie's turn to be caught off guard. She gaped at the shorter girl. Kylie was expecting an insult of some sort. The pink haired princess smiled and tugged on her friend's arm. "See ya!" She called back over her shoulder before they disappeared through the door. Kylie shook her head and chuckled. "Strange." Marina Mizuno hurried past her, clutching her books to her chest. Kylie arched an eyebrow at her and them did it again when Tara Tomoe walked past as she always did, head down so her hair covered her pale face. "Sheez! Glad I got stuck with such friendly people this year!" Kylie called loudly after they had all gone. She had no clue why they were hurrying. Their first class wasn't for another five minutes, plenty of time, in her eyes. She ran a hand through her sandy brown hair. She laughed at herself when she realized she hadn't even fixed her hair yet! Quickly selecting to hair thingys from the small dish on her bedside table. Then she pulled her hair into her trademark: two half pigtails with the rest hanging to right below her ears. Grinning, she blinked her emerald eyes seductively at her reflection. "CJ Tenoh! Well, aren't you a looker?" She laughed at her imitation of Nikki, who was dating the mentioned guy. Kylie turned from the mirror, grabbed her books, and casually walked out of the dorm.

        Humming a tune under her breath, Kylie strolled into her first class right before the bell rang. Lea, Rini, Marina, Nikki, and Tara, along with some others, were already there. Kylie ignored them and sat in the back of the class with all the guys. All her life she felt more comfortable around guys. Not for any _sexual_ reasons, just because they enjoyed the same things. Football, karate, sleeping, and anything that involved a lot of physical contact in sports. The two guys sitting nearest her glanced at her once but didn't bother checking her out. She had a rather, well, rough reputation when it came to fresh guys. Yeah, she put a couple forward guys in the hospital and everyone knew that. The class started and Kylie paid minimal attention to the instructor. She was thinking about the martial arts team tryouts after all classes today. Actually all teams, squads, and clubs were holding tryouts after classes that day. Kylie was heavy into martial arts and held quite a few titles. But only in unarmed combat since she thought weapons were a sign of weakness in fighting. 

        Later, at lunch, Kylie plopped down at a table occupied mostly by guys. The cutest one had blond hair and sparkly blue-gray eyes. He smiled at her and she thought, 'He obviously doesn't know my reputation.' The only guys she knew were the ones sitting next to the smiley blond, spiky black hair with red tips on the spikes and deep violet eyes, and her brother. He had darker brown hair than hers, but their eyes were the same color. He smiled and waved. "Kylie, I'd like to introduce you to my friends. The spiky headed one's Zach, the blond one's Lee, and this is CJ." He motioned to the one guy in the whole world that Kylie would've gone out with. With his strong, tall build and deep eyes, he was any girl's dream guy. But his violent temper and gruff ways made him attractive to Kylie. He was a street fighter and Kylie had watched him a couple of times. She and him could fight and fight for hours and no one would win. Equals. Kylie waved at the table of guys. Zach snickered and Lee elbowed him. Kylie caught the snicker and glared at him. "What was that all about, spike?" He choked on the food he was chewing, which threw him into a coughing fit. Lee smiled pleasantly at Kylie. "He's just jealous because you're taller than he is." She decided to laugh at that, but she gave a glare to Zach who found something interesting out the window. Kylie, satisfied with that response, turned back to her food. Some kind of mush and a biscuit. "Geez! With all the finery this place has you'd think they spend some money on the food." She scoffed. She could've easily cooked something all these kids would love. She prided herself on her ability to cook better than her mom and her brother. CJ smiled at her and nodded. Kylie almost blushed, almost.

        Kylie jogged out of the girl's locker room after classes were over that day. She was wearing a karate uniform (isn't there a name for those?) that had a bright green collar lining and a black belt. The gym was full of teenaged students, guys and girls, dressed similarly to Kylie. The coach was a brawny man with a receding hairline and a scarred face. He was very scary looking, but Kylie knew he was all talk and no walk. He yelled at the teeming mass in a smoker's voice and paired people up according to the list he had. No one knew how he had a list of all of them, but no one really cared. Kylie was paired up with CJ for the primary fights. CJ had no shirt on because he was just like that. He was very muscular. Kylie smiled and tried not to stare at his muscles. He grunted and winked at her. "So, we have to fight I guess." Kylie said in her most casual voice. CJ nodded. "Yeah, I'll go easy on ya." Kylie arched her eyebrow. "I think that'll be the other way around once we start." They launched into battle as soon as the coach blew his whistle. Locked in Kylie's iron headlock almost immediately, CJ grunted and struggled. Kylie yawned. "Please, you're weak!" He struggled harder and harder until the coach strolled over and blew his whistle. Kylie dropped her foe and CJ stood up immediately. His eyes glowed with silent fury. "CJ Tenoh! Eliminated!" His voice echoed throughout the gym. Some people looked over and they lost to their opponents because of it. Kylie grinned at her fallen foe. "Told you." CJ rolled his eyes and stomped away. Laughing to herself Kylie waited for her next "opponent".

        This is a no brainer. Kylie made it on the team! Yay! She was walking through the gym wiping the sweat from her face when she saw the girl. Her hair was dark brown and she had electric green eyes. She wasn't wearing a karate uniform or a CTU uniform, but a Sailor Scout outfit with black bows and an electric green main color theme. Kylie was alone in the gym before then and she hadn't seen this girl anywhere before. The girl smiled and flipped her ponytail over her shoulder. "So, you're the infamous Kylie Kino, Citywide and Regional Champion. I wish to have the honor of fighting you." Kylie blinked, kind of confused by this strange girl. And yet, since she never backed down from a challenge she nodded and tossed aside her towel. "Lets rumble!" She called to the strange girl who rushed at her with inhuman speed, pinning her to the nearby wall. She leaned close to Kylie ear and whispered, "Too slow!" Before punching her in the stomach several times. Kylie gagged and coughed up a mouthful of blood. The girl saw this and chuckled. "Aw poor little girl! You're hurt! Here! Let me end your suffering."__

_Black Jupiter Supreme Thunder!_

At point blank range the electric attack caused twice the damage. Kylie screamed before falling unconscious. Black Jupiter dropped the limp girl, scoffing at her weakness. "Loser. Aria told me you would be a challenge. Hmph." She crossed her arms and turned away. "No one else to fight. This is too simple. How did the others fail so many times?" With a shrug, Black Jupiter prepared to finish the job but a voice stopped her. "Wait just a second, Black Jupiter!" It was the voice of Sailor Neo-Moon and was joined by Neo-Venus, Neo-Mercury, and the Knights of Venus and Mars. "You fight dirty!" "Your strategy was not thought through and you miscalculated." "Yeah! You really stink!" "If you weren't evil, I might have asked you out!" Black Jupiter whipped her head around looking for the source of the voices. Five shadowy figures leapt out of nowhere and landed near the evil skank. "In the name of our respective planets and Love and Justice, we'll punish you!"  Cried the pink haired leader as they all assumed their poses. Black Jupiter snorted. "After what I did to that pathetic excuse for a fighter, I'll beat you wimps into bloody smears on the floor!" She lunged at the Knight of Venus, who shot an arrow, screaming,

_Mega Love Chain Mummify!_

The orange chains wrapped around her, stopping her in her tracks. Neo-Venus clapped and Neo-Mercury touched her right earring making a light blue visor cross her eyes. "She's weak against water and ice!" Mars nodded at her. "You're up!" She jumped towards the fighting figure. 

_Mercury Polar--AHHHHHH!!_

In the middle of her attack, Black Jupiter broke free and shot black electricity at the blue-garbed girl. "Neo-Mercury! I've got it!" Neo-Venus called before launching one of her mother's attacks.

_Venus Crescent Beam Smash!_

The beam of yellow energy tore at Black Jupiter and she collapsed. All of them approached her cautiously. She looked at them angrily before screaming,

_Darkstar Crystal Knife!_

        Her eyes hadn't even gone red and there was no black aura. Just the six black beams of black energy rushing at all of them. "NO! The shield! NOW!" Neo-Moon screamed. They pushed the energy shield up and the beams disappaited. All of them except the on heading for Kylie. The beam ripped into her back, since she was lying on her stomach, and it pulled her out of unconsciousness. Screaming in total agony, Kylie's body arched with the spasms of pain she was experiencing. This confused the Neo-Team because they didn't remember the pain being _that_ bad. Neo-Moon's eyes widened in realization as she noticed how Black Jupiter's eyes turned violet and her hair and clothes changed. Her hair turned black and was pulled into two half buns suddenly. Her sailor suit melted into a black dress and she cackled manically. Neo-Moon turned to the others. "That's Sailor Negamoon! Not Black Jupiter! We've got to stop her now!" The others didn't seem too shocked except Neo-Mercury who was still looking through her visor. "Everyone, her energy just shot up off the scales! She is way too powerful for us!" Negamoon, well Aria, turned to them and smiled. "Actually, I am Black Jupiter and Sailor Negamoon. See?" The figure of Black Jupiter stepped out of Aria's body, totally solid. She grinned and walked over to Kylie's now still body. A dark green crystal orb with a bright green symbol of Jupiter and white wings was floating above her body. Neo-Moon knew they had lost this one, that they were too late to save her. Black Jupiter reached out for the Crystal Orb of Jupiter, but a sword shot out of nowhere and hit her hand away. Aria glared at the sword, knowing exactly whose it was. "This is wrong, Aria, and you know it!" A voice called, followed by the form of a tall man. He had blond hair and blue eyes and was dressed in black and dark blue, cape billowing, eyes flaming. Aria stomped her foot angrily as he kneeled next to Kylie, pulled her hand out from under her, and pushed the Crystal Orb in her palm. The bright green transformation stick appeared and she woke up. "Here, take this." He grabbed the stick and handed it to her. She nodded as words filtered into her head.

_Jupiter Crystal Orb Power!_

        Bright green ribbons, charged with electricity, rushed out of the crystal orb followed by a roll of thunder. The ribbons wrapped around her and formed her body suit, dark green bows, bright green skirt, ankle high boots that were bright green, the Crystal Orb of Jupiter became the brooch, a dark green choker appeared bearing a bright green symbol of Jupiter, her gloves, and finally her gold tiara with another bright green symbol of Jupiter on it. She ended with the same exact pose as her mom. Her eyes held a kind of fury that they had rarely in anyone's eyes. Smiling at Black Jupiter, she motioned for her to bring it on, so to speak. Black Jupiter narrowed her eyes and rushed at her. She repeated the same move she used on CJ and caught Black Jupiter in a headlock. Black Jupiter screeched in surprise. Kylie leaned closer to her enemy's ear and whispered, "I'm Sailor Neo-Jupiter, your worst nightmare." Neo-Jupiter spun Black Jupiter out so she fell down. (Note to readers: I'm no good at writing fight scenes so forgive the crappiness of this fight!) Neo-Jupiter laughed as her enemy stood and rushed at her again. The newest addition to the Neo-Team simply summoned her first attack ever,

_Jupiter Thunder Storm!_

Bolts of electricity rained down around Black Jupiter and thunder nearly deafened everyone around. Black Jupiter collapsed and Aria, furious with the man who had stopped her and the Neo-Team, marched over to her comrade. "I will report this to Darkstar and he won't be happy!" Then she and Black Jupiter disappeared in a flash of dark gray energy. Neo-Jupiter turned to her comrades and smiled. "Well, I guess I'm part of the team now, huh?" Neo-Moon nodded curtly, but instead of detransforming like they always did, the Neo-Team turned to the mysterious blond man that had saved the day. "Who are you?" Neo-Moon asked in a commanding tone. He shook his head and picked up his sword from where it had landed. "I can't reveal that until you know more. Farewell." He jumped up and disappeared into the gathering night. "That's just way too creepy." Neo-Venus said, twisting some of her hair around her finger. Neo-Mercury pressed her earring again and the visor disappeared. "That went relatively smoothly. And I collected enough data to fully study our magical powers." Mars sighed and rolled his eyes. "Drop it already, jeez!" The Knight of Venus turned to Kylie and smiled. "I guess we should show you who we are." Then they all detransformed. "Ha! Well, I guess I _have_ to make friends with you guys now, huh?" They all laughed at this since she had had no intentions of making friends with any of these people. And, in short, a greenish star appeared with all the others and the moon that night.


	6. Looking Back

Rylie stared out on the kingdom ruled by Neo-Queen Serenity and felt a tug at his heart. He was standing on top of a tall building watching the people below and he saw a happy family walking along the sidewalk. 'Happy family, huh?' He thought closing his eyes. Rylie had no family, no real family. Damien claimed that they were brothers but Starfrost, one of Damien's other servants, had turned good and told him who he really was. Supposedly, Drake, the first Lord Darkstar, had kidnapped him when he was a baby from the home of a Mr. and Mrs. Chiba. Rylie had held on to that fact so tightly it hurt him. Knowing the last name of your parents didn't really help much in the way of family. When he had noticed the blatant corruption of his only love, Rylie had fled Darkstar's domain and come here. Crystal Tokyo. For some reason that gigantic palace drew him towards it, like a magnet. Reaching beneath his shirt, he pulled out a silver crescent moon shaped pendant on a chain. This was his only tie between himself and his mysterious family. That and a melody he could barely remember.

        Turning away from the bustling streets of Crystal Tokyo, Rylie prepared to jump from building to building. He found this somewhat amusing and it was simple for him, for some odd reason. Leaping to the nearest rooftop, Rylie silently freed his mind of all the things that troubled it, giving himself to the feeling of the wind through his hair. 'Free…' He thought in an elated silence.

                Neo-Queen Serenity screamed at what she saw before her. She had summoned the Silver Crystal to do the daily city scan, but before she could grab it, it split in two. The two halves became crescent moons, one silver and the other gold. Serenity stumbled back from the pedestal she would've placed it on as they glowed with an eerie light. Sailor Pluto, the only Sailor Soldier who still had her powers, stepped out of the light. "Pluto? But I thought you had to stay in the 5th Dimension with the Gates!" The solemn warrior nodded sadly. "Yes, but my task takes me here, to get these crescents." Serenity gasped. "Do you know what happened to the Silver Crystal? I have no clue what just happened here!" Pluto reached out and took the two crescents. "You will remember as soon as I leave to deliver these why I must. It all started when you were only twenty-one years old. Remember?" Pluto stepped back into the light and then she and the light disappeared. The queen stood there in silence for a moment and then memories she never had rushed into her head. Memories of her and Darien's first child, a golden haired boy with blue eyes. He was so even tempered and hardly ever cried. The only time he cried was right before they took him away, Drake and Lilith, those evil…. Her eyes filled with tears at the emotions that accompanied those memories. Just then, Endymion rushed into the room, a shocked and pained expression on his face. Serenity turned to him and sobbed. "Pluto just took the crescents so she could deliver them to Rini and, and…." She burst out crying and her love ran over to her, shushing her. "Serenity, I just remembered what today was. It's the nineteen year anniversary of the day that he was taken away." Serenity's sobs wracked her body as Endymion just held her, silently swaying as a single tear slipped out of his eyes.

                Meanwhile, Rini was enjoying her Saturday off from classes. She, Lea, Kylie, Marina, Lee, and Zach were all lounging in the courtyard, waiting for their parents to arrive. Kylie was wondering at finally meeting the queen and king and Marina was studying the data she had collected from the battle the other day. Rini sighed heavily. Lea looked up from the doodle she was drawing of all of them. "What's up, Rini?" The pink haired girl shook her head. "I was just thinking about that guy that saved us the other day. He seemed, a I dunno, kinda familiar for some reason." Lea's pretty eyes narrowed in thought. "I didn't recognize him from anywhere."  Zach was leaning against the nearby tree and he said this right before he yawned. Lee snorted. "No one asked you, spike." Kylie joined in taunting the sleepy head and the others chuckled at their antics. They all stopped when a group of adults walked through the gates. A tall woman with her long brown hair pulled into a ponytail was the first one into the courtyard. Kylie jumped up and ran to her, giving her a brief hug before they both waved at everyone else. They walked away, both of them talking excitedly. Next came Raye, Chad, and the two younger children in the family. Zach yawned again and stood up, stretching. "That's my cue. Later." He walked casually over to his family and greeted them. Marina snapped her new laptop shut and stood also, seeing her mother walk in. "Farewell, everyone." She said curtly as she went to greet her mom. Mina and Andrew came in screaming their children's names. Lee and Lea both shook their heads before waving at Rini and hurrying to the excited adults. Rini didn't really expect her parents to come, since they really never lived up to the parent thing anyway. So when Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endymion strolled in, wearing street clothes, Rini squealed and ran over to them. "You guys came! YAY!" She hugged them both before they could say anything. Serenity smiled slightly. "Of course we came, Rini. Why wouldn't we?" Rini shrugged and tugged them over to the tree. "Sit, sit!"  She said as she plopped onto the ground. Her parents sat, gracefully, across from her. Endymion cleared his throat. "So, how was your first week?" Rini sighed and launched into a detailed report of what had happened that week. They listened attentively, making comments at the right moments and looking shocked where they should. Rini finished with another sigh. "Yeah, I had a great first week!" Serenity chuckled. "Well, you've already obtained the inner Neo-Team. And about twice as fast as I did. Congratulations on that one." 

                Rylie stopped leaping from building to building and sat on the edge of CTU's main building. He was watching as the group of teens dispersed to their parents, all except the pink haired one. He narrowed his eyes at her. 'She seems so familiar.' It was her hairstyle that was the dead give away. Sailor Neo-Moon had worn that same style the other night and always actually. "That girl is Sailor Neo-Moon so the others that were with her must be the Neo-Team!" Rylie muttered this to himself, still watching the girl below. A pang of longing shot through his heart as he watched her embrace the two adults, her parents. Saddened by his lack of family, he turned away and prepared to leave. Suddenly, a black wrap hole appeared down in the courtyard. He felt the sudden energy flux and whirled around. 'Aria!' He thought, recognizing the energy signature immediately. Down below, Sailor Negamoon was stepping through the hole she had created. Her eyes were totally red and glowing maliciously. "Ah! So I have located the elusive royal couple! Prepare to face the wrath of Darkstar, fools!" Rylie felt this sudden urge to jump in and save the pink haired girl's parents. So with a grand flourish, he leapt into the fray, landing between Aria and the couple.

                Rini saw the flying figure of the man before her parents did and immediately recognized him as the one that had saved them. As soon as Negamoon had appeared, the original Sailor Scouts had reached for their non-existent transformation items. Rini was way ahead of them and called to her comrades. "Neo-Team! Transform, now!" All across the yard, Lea, Lee, Zach, Marina, and Kylie looked over and nodded. They all called in unison,

_Moon Crystal Orb Power!_

_Venus Crystal Orb Power!_

_Mars Crystal Orb Power!_

_Mercury Crystal Orb Power!_

_Jupiter Crystal Orb Power!_

Their parents watched in shock as their children transformed into the newest generation of Sailor Soldiers. When their transformations ended, Neo-Moon motioned them all over. Standing in a collective group in front of their queen and king, the Neo-Team prepared to make their speech. Negamoon had other plans. "Oh spare me the dramatic speeches, Neo-Lameos! You're worse than your parents were with all the flashy transformations and whatnot." She turned to the man, who was unarmed and dressed in civilian clothes. "Rylie, why are you defending them? What are they to you? They're the enemy!" Serenity burst into tears when Negamoon called the man Rylie. She ran to him. "Rylie! It's been 19 years!" She cried, stopping a few feet away from him. Rylie's stern face softened. "M-mother?" The sobbing monarch nodded and threw herself at her long lost son, holding him tightly. Endymion hurried over, too. "Son, we've missed you." He said with misty eyes. Rylie just nodded, afraid his voice would betray his true feelings. Neo-Moon, along with all the Neo-Team, stood in shock. "Mama! Papa! I have a brother?" She cried, totally surprised. Negamoon didn't like this at all and the red flared and died in her eyes. They were their normal violet again, filled with tears of betrayal. "Rylie, they're the enemy!" She cried at her love. Rylie pushed his mother behind him and prepared to fight. "They're my parents and I'll do anything to protect them! Even betray Lord Damien!" Aria looked hurt, very hurt. She shook with sobs and Rylie's resolve failed him. "Aria, don't cry. I still love you, but I love the real you, not what Darkstar made you." Aria suddenly looked back at him. "If you love me then you would do anything for me! Even kill your parents, the sworn enemies of Darkstar!" Rylie looked down at his feet. "No, Aria. If they are the sworn enemies of Darkstar, then as their only son so am I." Aria let her tears fall silently for a moment before a strong black aura surrounded her. Her eyes flared back to red and she pointed at Rylie. "You have made your choice, brother! I shall destroy you, descendent of the Moon Kingdom and all who stand here now!" Damien's voice spoke through Aria's body and she began gathering energy in vast amounts. Neo-Mercury put up her visor and scanned her. She paled out. "She's too strong! We can't fight her!"  She cried over the roar of the gathering energy. The others traded dull expressions of defeat. Their parents stood behind them, hoping to the stars that they were strong enough to at least shield them.  Neo-Moon had a plan. If that man was her brother, then he had the power of the moon in him too, right? So, if Aria launched that Crystal Orb stealing attack, Rylie would awaken as a knight. She rushed to him so he'd be prepared for what was to come.

                Rylie's head and his heart were in total conflict. His head told him he had to protect his family and all innocence, but his heart told him not to fight Aria, his lover.  Fists clenched, he fought the urge to scream out in frustration. Suddenly, Neo-Moon, his sister, was beside him. "Rylie, I have a plan. Aria will launch a Crystal Orb stealing attack if I know anything about her by now." Rylie nodded slowly, knowing what the scheme was that Aria was executing for Darkstar. Neo-Moon smiled. "Okay, you have the power of the Moon running through your veins, just like I do. So, when she launches the attack, the team and me'll shield mama and papa and the others while you stand here and take the hit. If I'm right, your Crystal Orb will appear. All you have to do is reach for it when it does appear." She paused, seeming not to want to say the next part. "It'll hurt really, really bad though, but it will get better, ya know? If you do this, you can save her. Stop Darkstar and save Aria!" She whispered this last part and Rylie finally looked at her. She looked like their mother, but her eyes were a shiny red. Her face was full of concern and she barely knew him! The love of the pure heart was unconditional. Rylie smiled sadly and cupped his little sister's face in his hands. "I'll do it, little sister. For Earth, the Moon, my family, and Aria." Neo-Moon burst into tears and hugged him suddenly. Rylie pushed her away gently after a moment. "You'd better go save mom and dad, huh?" He wiped her tears as he said this. She nodded and jogged away, preparing the team for their energy shield technique. Rylie was filled with a sort of numb happiness. He'd found his family and he knew how much they all loved him. He turned to face the vortex Aria/Darkstar had created. She finally stopped drawing energy and prepared to release it all. "I shall kill you all in one swoop! DIE!"

_Darkstar Crystal Knife!_

The knives of energy rushed at the huge group of people and the strong energy shield created by the Neo-Team stopped them. One headed for Rylie who stared at it blankly. He blinked once before it hit him, thinking, 'How ironic is this? I'm taking this pain to save everyone I love and to betray my once brother.' When the bolt of black energy hit him, he heard screams echoing in his ears. They weren't his screams, but his mother's. He saw her fall to her knees, screaming something about the crystal. He smiled at Neo-Moon before falling into the pain filled void of his mind.

                Endymion joined Serenity's sobbing figure. He kneeled beside her and held her shaking form, crying silently himself. They had just found and lost their long lost son all in one day. Neo-Moon stepped over to them to reassure them that everything would be okay. "Mama, papa, he'll be fine. He's like us; too strong to fall when his loved ones are in trouble. He'll survive, like you guys always did." With that, she motioned for her team to take their positions in a circle around Aria. When Rylie obtained his powers, they could do a combined attack and weaken her too much for Darkstar to stay. Then Serenity could heal her with the crystal. Neo-Moon didn't know that the crystal had split in two and that Serenity couldn't use it any more. She took the position nearest her brother and spoke to him as the Crystal Orb formed above him. It was a clear Crystal Orb with a white crescent moon at the center. The white wings were traced with silver and glimmered in the late afternoon light. "Rylie, brother, please fight this! Without your help, we can't save Aria. Come on! Reach out for the light in front of you." She grabbed on of his limp hands, squeezing it reassuringly. 

                Rylie, drifting through his own mind, heard his sister's sweet voice and felt her hand squeeze his. Softly, sighing mentally, he searched for the light she spoke of. He spotted the white, glimmering light and forced himself towards it. His physical hand reached for the orb and Neo-Moon smiled, backing away. A white transformation pen appeared with the Crystal Orb on the top. Rylie's crystalline blue eyes snapped open and he grabbed the stick, calling,

_White Moon Crystal Orb Power!_

        Shimmery white ribbons shot out of the orb and swirled around him. They formed his navy blue suit with the white sleeve and collar cuffs. A white crescent moon was on the front of the suit. The back of the cape has navy blue with a white crescent moon and the other side of the cape was white. A beautifully crafted sword with a silver hilt appeared in a shimmer of white light and he ended the transformation with a slash of that sword. The Knight of the Moon stood there, holding the Blade of Selenity in his hands. Neo-Moon nodded towards the empty position in the circle. "We're going to try a combination attack, Knight of the Moon, and we'll need your help." He nodded and sheathed his sword. She nodded and they all joined hands. Auras of their respective colors appeared around them as they channeled their energy into Neo-Moon and the Knight of the Moon. Aria was staring at them, a confused expression on her face. She/Darkstar had no clue what was happening. "What are you fools doing? This is silly!" She/Darkstar crossed her arms and waited. The Moon sibling's eyes opened (oh yeah! They were closed before) at the same time. He locked eyes with his sister and nodded. They turned back to Aria/Darkstar and cried,

_Ultimate Neo Ray!_

        A beam of pink, white, yellow, orange, red, light blue, and green shot out of Neo-Moon's and the Knight's hands. Then everything seemed to move in slow motion. The beam raced towards Aria/Darkstar, her eyes went back to normal and the black aura disappeared. The glare of the beam hid this from everyone, but the Knight of the Moon heard her scream and it was just Aria's scream. Making contact, the beam threw her body all the way into the outer wall of the courtyard. She slumped to the ground, her energy and Darkstar's extra powers gone. Gaping at the damage they had done, the Neo-Team stood frozen in wonder. Silence hung in the air as the Knight of the Moon ran to see if she could still be saved. "Aria! You're going to be okay, right? We promised to die together, remember? I'm not ready and I know you're not either." He fought his tears as he gripped her gloved hands in his. She opened her beautiful violet eyes to him. "Darkstar deserted me right before the beam hit. He didn't protect me." She coughed up some blood and he wrapped his arms around her. "Don't die! I'll save you, somehow!" The Neo-Team had collected around them now and Neo-Moon knelt next to them. Her eyes were filled with tears. "This is all my fault! I shouldn't have thought up that stupid plan! I'm sorry!" Neo-Venus turned away, bawling her eyes out. Mars was the nearest shoulder so she threw herself at him. He blinked and patted her back gently. Neo-Mercury scanned Aria's dying body and put the visor away sadly. "The only way we can save her is with the crystal or a miracle." Serenity was in tears and shook her head at them all. "I can't. It's gone."  A shocked silence followed in which the Moon Knight looked deeply into his love's eyes, Neo-Moon continued sobbing, Neo-Venus kept crying onto Mars's already soaked shoulder, and all the others watched on the edge of tears. Neo-Moon was staring at her brother and his lover when she saw the white rose petals start to drift past on the breeze. She stood up and looked up at the school and she gasped. Helios was standing there, surrounded by a golden light and holding the Golden Crystal. She stared at him as he leapt down and landed right next to the couple on the ground. "Knight of the Moon, your wish may not be enough to save her, but if all these people wish too…." He trailed off and looked at them all in turn. His eyes met Neo-Moon's and stayed there. She stepped over to her brother and put her hand on his shoulder. "We can do this, brother." Then looking over her shoulder at the others she said, "We can, right? We all have to want Aria to live and she will." They all closed their eyes. Neo-Moon turned back to Helios, smiled softly, and nodded. She closed her eyes and let all the feelings of apology for her plan causing Aria's near death overwhelm her. Her brother silently prayed as he clasped his love's steadily getting limper hands. 

Helios held the Gold Crystal towards Aria and listened to the wishes of all these people. He directed the crystal to do their bidding. Its glow brightened and then traveled to Aria's body, glowing within her until her eyes flickered open. Since everyone's eyes were closed, no one but the priest noticed this. He smiled at her and mentally spoke with her. "_Aria of the Negamoon, you must promise to never do the bidding of evil again, here and now._" "_I promise never to follow Darkstar into the darkness of evil again._" Helios withdrew and power of the Gold Crystal and the light faded. He shimmered with a golden light and disappeared. Aria squeezed back on her love's hands and his eyes snapped opened. "Aria, y-you're…." "Alive." She whispered, finishing his sentence. He pulled her to him and held her silently. Neo-Moon opened her eyes when he pulled away and smiled. Then she turned, expecting to see Helios there. Disappointed with the emptiness of where he was, she sighed. Looking up at the sky, she smiled. Everything had gone as it should've that day. She had found out she had a brother, knocked Darkstar's plans once more, and saved the life of the innocent the evil lord was using. And when the moon rose that night, full and round, it seemed that there was twice the light shining down on the Earth. 


	7. Time Never Stops

Trista lowered herself into the chair in front of her daughter. The girl was seventeen with hair just like her mother's only styled just in a bun. Two long strand-like things hung in front of her face and her really dark red eyes looked somehow bored all the time. "Erin, I know you don't want to switch schools, but it's for the best. CTU is for the elite teens of Crystal Tokyo and you are most definitely one of the elite." Erin crossed her arms huffily and glared at her mother. "What if I don't want to be one of the elite?" Trista sighed, already exasperated. "Don't do this, Erin. My life just took a nose dive into the core of the Earth and I need some time to think." Erin stood up, an outraged look on her face. "So this is all about you, then? Send me, your only child, away to some stupid university so you can think? Fine! I'll go!  But don't ever expect to talk to me again!" She stomped out of the room and a door slammed somewhere down the hall. Trista buried her face in her hands. "Why is she so complicated?"

Damien stared at the viewing orb in which the scene in which the Neo-Team defeated Aria and rid her of evil. He had played it over and over again for hours with the Black Scouts looking on. They were worried he had lost it completely until he spoke in a quiet voice. "Ladies, I must inform you that your leader's choice to leave does not give you any special power over me. I am and always was the leader of you four and you will continue to be my slaves." They all bowed and nodded. His thin lips twisted themselves into a very ugly smile. "I wish that the four of you would go to the Gates of Time to visit an old friend of mine. She has something we'll need." Again, the four bowing 'slaves' nodded and disappeared in flickers of light. Damien returned his gaze to the viewing orb, which now held an image of Sailor Pluto glumly guarding the Time Gates. "You're days of guarding those miserable gates will soon be over, Daughter of Chronos." He snickered and then full out laughed, the echoes chasing the shadows into the corners of the dimension.

        Erin tossed her bag next to her newly claimed bed. A quick glance around the room roved her fears. These girls had had two and a half months to adjust to CTU life and they probably wouldn't take too kindly to a newcomer. A picture to her left caught her scrutinizing eye. It was of a young, aqua haired girl sitting between a bleach blond boy and an emerald haired little girl. Erin smiled. The little green haired girl was her. "At least I'll have one automatic friend here." Her eyes gained a far away glaze as she remembered all the fun times she had had with those two. A bell rang from somewhere in the school and the sound of many feet roared through the open door. Erin jumped and prepared to meet the girls that also lived in this dorm. "No way! Rini, he's totally the hottest guy in school! Why'd you say no?" An almost outraged, perky voice cried from somewhere down the hall. Judging from the echoey nature, she was still some distance away. "Shhhh! Lea! Geez, you're loud!" This voice was male and equally loud. This was followed by a screech and the sound of running. A guy with black hair that was spiked up with red tips and deep violet eyes slid into the room. Erin stayed silent as he dove under her bed. The perky sounding blond ran through the doorway next, her blond hair pulled into a half ponytail with an orange bow. Her blue-gray eyes full of fury. "Zach! I know you're in here! Come out before I take steps." Erin choked back her laughter as a pink haired girl with an oddly familiar hairstyle, a tall blond guy, a girl with pale blue hair, and another girl with brown hair all rushed into the room, getting slightly stuck in the door. The blond girl spun on her heels and glared. "Help me find him! Ooohhh! He is SO gonna pay!" The pink haired girl managed to squeeze out of the doorframe. She sighed and patted the blond on the back. "Lea, don't be so hard on the guy. He's like his mother, always nit picking and starting fights." A muffled reply was shot back by the guy under Erin's bed. "She did not! It was all that stupid meatball headed blonde's fault!" He crawled back out from under the bed, wiping imaginary dust from his red jacket. Now the pink haired girl joined in Lea's rampage. They shouted in unison, "Are you mocking blondes?" "Are you saying my mom was stupid?" 

After Lea and the one with pink hair got their share of smacks in on Zach, the two guys waved and left for their dorm. Lea and the pinked haired one were still fuming and ranted for a long time. Eventually, everything calmed down enough for the girl with pale blue hair to notice Erin, who was watching all from a corner she had found in all the confusion. "Oh! Forgive us! I am Marina Mizuno, pleased to meet you." The geeky looking girl bowed formally to Erin, who nodded and flashed a 'V For Victory!' sign at her. "Sup? I'm Erin Meioh! How's it hangin'?" Erin silently praised herself for learning the common street slang from some of the guys at her old school. Ruffling the well-groomed hair of these preps would be easy with the slang she'd learned. Marina blinked, fazed. The brunette that had casually sat back during the fighting, stood and meandered over. "I'm Kylie, the top fighter here at CTU." She grinned proudly. Erin just nodded again, taking everything into account. She would worm her way into these girls' hearts and minds until she had enough to blackmail them and, hopefully, get her kicked out. Lea and the pink haired girl hurried over, too. Lea squealed. "YAY! A new girl! I've gotten soooooo bored with these old faces everyday for the past two months." The pink haired girl gave the blonde a sharp elbow to the side. "That's nice! Hi, I'm Rini. We've met though, I think." Erin looked into Rini's eyes and recognized that garnet red glow. 'Makes sense she'd be here, of all the stupid schools in Tokyo.' She smiled slightly. "Yes, our mothers are close, I believe. I know why we've never really gotten to talk though." Rini blinked, it was her turn to be fazed. Erin decided to leave it at that and waved to the group of girls. "See ya later, girlies!" She swung her bag onto her shoulder and waltzed out the door, leaving her new roommates staring blankly after her.

Erin snickered as she walked down the hall. Her schedule said this was her free time so she was going to scope the school. Massive as it was, the place was simple to figure out. Being an oblong almost oval shape, all the corridors looped back to the main hallway that ran straight through the whole thing. It would've been confusing for anyone but Erin. She was good at figuring out puzzles and stuff like that. Her mom claimed it ran in the family, but she had a hard time believing that, seeing as her mother was a fashion designer. Erin readjusted her bag from one shoulder to the other and she studied the intricate workings that were in scripted in the walls. They were in some ancient language that she couldn't understand, but she felt like she should. Stopping by an alcove that overlooked the outdoor pool, Erin leaned close to the wall so she could try to read some of the writing. She traced one of the more intricate symbols and heard a faint whispering sound around her. She whirled around to see another door behind. "That wasn't there before." Erin uttered as she checked both ways down the hall, making sure no one was watching. She cleared her throat and opened the door slowly. She gasped at what she saw. The room was full of black crystal structures protruding from every surface except one. A dark wooden desk with a computer and other office supplies sat at the very center of the room. "Yes, of course brother!" A voice echoed from somewhere deep in the shadows. Erin jumped, recognizing the voice to belong to Ms. Hawkins. "I am fully aware that they are all students here, brother, but it will look very strange if they all disappear at once." The teacher's voice hissed again followed by a short pause and the sound of breaking glass, or maybe crystal? Erin swallowed her fear because the tickling thought that something wasn't right here nagged at her mind. She stared into the shadows from which the talking had come from, hoping to see something there. Suddenly Ms. Hawkins came storming towards her, an angry beyond compare look on her face. She was dressed in a sailor suit but where there would normally be white there was black. The bows were deep, dark blue and the skirt and collar were deep purple. Her boots reached up to her thighs and were shiny black. The brooch was the symbol of Darkstar (a black circle with dark blue and purple flames sticking out of it). A silver tiara with the same symbol adorned her forehead. She froze when she saw Erin, shock and disbelief etched across her face. " How did you get in here?" She asked the frozen in place teen. Erin shook her head. "I touched the wall and this door appeared and I went in thinking it was my next class and…." Ms. Hawkins held up a hand to shut her up. "I see. Well, I'll just have to keep you here until I figure out what to do about this." She flicked her hand at Erin and a black crystal cage formed around her. "There! That should do! Ta ta!" The sailor suit shimmered to be replaced by her usual teacher clothes. Erin gripped the black crystal bars. "Wait!" She cried just as the woman walked through the door. Slumping against the bars, Erin groaned. "Curiosity killed the cat…." Her voice echoed out into the darkness.

Erin had long since given up her ceaseless pounding on the bars of the cage. That had earned her deep cuts and tons of bruises on her hands. She glanced at her watch and groaned. She was late to her class. Its not that she wanted to make a good impression or anything, she just didn't want to have to deal with getting in trouble right then and there. The room was growing darker and colder as time wore on and she shivered in the not-so-warm CTU uniform. Glancing out of the bars in what she thought was the direction of the door, Erin mumbled, "Great first day. I'm eternally happy that my loving mother sent me here." She slumped down again and curled her body into a ball. Closing her eyes, she silently wished she was back in her room at home. "It is a shame to see such beauty locked up like this." Erin jumped and sat up at the sound of the decisively male voice. A figure in a white tuxedo, mask, and top hat stepped into the her line of vision. He held a gold sword in one hand and the other hand was holding a white rose. The rose disappeared in a shimmer of gold energy. "Who are you?" Asked Erin as she stood. The man merely smiled. "I am an angel sent by the Golden Princess to save those in need." She blinked, his explanation only further confusing her. He held his empty hand up to his forehead and a diamond shaped golden symbol flared into life. The sword glowed in response. The man then used the glowing sword to slice through the bars with relative ease. Erin shielded her head from the black crystal shards that were flying everywhere. The man apologized. "I am truly sorry for the mess. I must go now." He did a backflip and in a swirl of white feathers was gone. Erin silenced the million questions on her mind. "Thanks, I guess." She whispered moodily. Picking up her forgotten bag, she headed quickly for the door, hoping to make it to her next class unnoticed by Ms. Hawkins or worse.

        Erin sighed as the last class of the day was let out. She lazily made her way back to the dormroom, ignoring the stare she got from Ms. Hawkins. Erin was about to enter her room when she heard semi-familiar voices behind her. A girl and a guy were talking about street fighting about three feet behind her. Erin turned and smiled. They were the two other children in the picture she had seen earlier. The aqua haired girl seemed to see and recognize her too. She squinted in the twilight of the hall. "Erin? Erin, is that you?" The guy, CJ, turned and stared. Erin's smile grew wider and she hurried over to them. "Nikki! CJ! Its been so long!" She cried, giving Nikki a hug. Nikki nodded. "Yeah! Way too long!" CJ smiled slightly. "Yo, Erin! How's it rollin' with you?" Erin grinned. "I'm pretty good." The other two teens locked eyes and smiled. "I've got a great idea." Nikki said, rubbing her hands together. CJ laughed evilly. "Yeah! I'll go grab Z and we'll meet you guys back by your room." He jogged down the hall. Nikki watched him for a moment, a bemused expression on her face. Erin was momentarily confused by CJ and Nikki's silent agreement. She then caught a whiff of romance and giggled. "You two an item?" She asked, poking her childhood friend in the ribs. Nikki blushed crimson. "Uh, um, yeah. You can say that." She played with a strand of her hair. "Yeah, we're an item." Erin smirked. And walked passed her, into the room. The other girls were already there. Nikki hurried in and fell into step with Erin. Rini, Lea, Marina, and Kylie all sat in a semi-circle near Rini's bed. They looked up but said nothing as the two girls passed. Nikki rolled her eyes at them and Erin did the same. They laughed at each other's identical responses. Erin  tossed her bag on her bed and un-tucked her blouse. Nikki's blouse was already un-tucked ( to the displeasure of the teachers) so she just sat on the edge of Erin's bed. Her friend followed suit. "So, how've ya been since, well, you know." Nikki asked timidly. Erin sighed and pushed one of her bang-strands behind her ear. "I've been alright. Pretty lonely, though, without the rest of my gang." Nikki smiled. "Yeah, me and CJ really missed you. Well, CJ never said anything, but I knew it. We hooked up about a year after you left." Erin nodded slowly. "That's cool." 

A moment of uncomfortable silence followed in which the other girls all left except for Tara who was reading at the computer desk. "What's up with those guys?" Erin asked in a tone of contempt. Nikki shook her head in disgust. "They're MAJOR preps so don't bother. They'll only piss you off, if you stayed the same as back then." Her voice held a note of hopeful ness. The emerald haired girl grinned. "Of course I'm the same! Why would I change?" Nikki smiled, relieved. "Yo! Ladies! Lets roll!" CJ stood in the door with Zach, the guy that Lea and Rini had chased into the dormroom earlier. Nikki grabbed Erin's arm excitedly and half-ran to the door. As they walked down the hall, Nikki introduced Erin to Zach. "Oh yeah! Erin, this is Zach, CJ's best friend. Z, this is Erin Tenoh, my best friend." The spiky headed teen grinned his lop sided grin. "So you're the infamous Erin. I've heard way too much about you from Nikki." That received a smack from Nikki, a chuckle from CJ, and a warm smile from Erin. "Nice to know I wasn't forgotten." They all nodded and continued walking. "So where are we going?" Erin asked quietly when they neared the main doors. CJ responded gruffly. "One of my fights. I've got a title to defend and just cuz I'm in this school I have to sneak around." He jammed his hands into his pockets. "I hate sneaks."  Zach started explaining street fights to Erin as they left, got in CJ's racing style hover car, and zoomed off to the street match. 

        Sailor Pluto stared out into the nothing-ness that was the realm that she had to guard. The silence soothed her nerves and her ruffled emotions. Her confrontation with Erin stood clearly in her mind. The anger on Erin's face and her words still stung, bringing a wave of tears to the usually emotionless soldier. Pluto shook her head and pushed the tears away. 'I must be strong.' She thought, hitting the Time Staff to the ground to drown out the sound of her slight whimper. A shimmer of light and a familiar tingling sensation in her head alerted her to the presence of someone else. Four familiar warriors stood before her, all wearing matching angry looks. Sailor Pluto sent an arm of probing energy at them and nodded. They were the Black Scouts, the ones who stole all the other Sailor Soldiers' Crystal Orbs. Pluto had been fortunate enough that she was here and not there when they had attacked. But she had watched the whole thing and then their attacks on the other Neo-Team members. She was quite aware of their powers and knew she couldn't defeat them on her own. Black Venus stepped towards her, a hungry grin on her lips. "So, Sailor Pluto, the Immortal Guardian of Time. You have something Lord Damien wants." Black Mars chimed in. "Yes, a very powerful source of energy, if what we know is true." Black Mercury also threw in her comments. "How very unfortunate for you that this time we followed you here instead of just settling with those other Crystal Orbs." Black Jupiter, crossed her arms. "You're going to resent becoming Sailor Pluto here in a few minutes." The Warrior of Time simply closed her eyes. "If that's your introduction speech, I highly recommend you take some lessons from Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask." The Black Scouts simultaneously glared at her. Pluto didn't wait for them to say anything; she just got into a defensive stance near the Time Gates. Black Venus scoffed at her. "You think that can help you? That silly staff of yours?" 

_Black Venus Love Chain WHIP!_

She unleashed the black chain of hearts and whipped the Time Staff away from Pluto, who gasped. The others took this opportunity to further weaken her.

_Black Jupiter Oak Evolution!_

_Black Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!_

_Black Mars Flame Sniper!_

The most powerful attacks of the Black Scouts ripped towards Pluto at an immeasurable speed. She silently bade farewell to the world she had defended for far too long. Just seconds before the attacks hit her, time froze. Pluto, who was waiting for them to hit, opened her eyes and gasped. Her gasp echoed eerily. "_Daughter of Chronos, God of Time, your time to die is not now._" A figure wreathed in a urethral purple light stepped towards her. The figure was wearing a flowy lavender garment and her hair was equally flowing and lavender. Her eyes were hidden in the shadow of her hair, or just hidden in shadow. A pair of huge white angel wings grew from her back. Pluto recognized this woman immediately and relaxed. "Angel of Destiny, why do you grace me with your presence now?" The Angel of Destiny held out her hand and the Time Staff flew to her. She handed the staff back to Pluto silently. "_Your daughter needs the power of Pluto, Warrior of Time. She will need it to vanquish an enemy that threatens all Life._" Pluto gripped the staff and let her tears fall silently. "I cannot curse Erin with this burden! I want her to live normally!" She cried at the angel. "_By giving her life you cursed her. By being who and what you are you curse all that come after you in the line of Meioh._" The emerald haired warrior shook her head furiously. "No! That's not true! I can stay Sailor Pluto forever!" The silence of the angel's reply held all the answers for her. She couldn't stay Sailor Pluto as long as Erin lived. The power had to be passed on; it was destiny. "_You know what you must do_," The angel whispered. Pluto nodded firmly and braced herself. The Angel of Destiny produced an orb of lavender energy and she threw it at Pluto's chest. A silent cry of pain etched on her face, Trista Meioh fell to the ground, drained but not dead. The Crystal Orb of Pluto hovered where she once stood. The angel reached for it and disappeared in a shimmer of lavender energy. Trista stood slowly, painfully and watched in horror as time started up again and the attacks hit her full on.

                Erin and Nikki slid into their dormroom at somewhere around midnight. All the other girls were already sleeping so they silently changed into their pajamas and got into bed. Erin, for one, was totally exhausted. The fights had been fun to watch and CJ had won all of them. Smiling in her sleep, Erin dreamed of the goofy guy with spiky hair that had made her laugh all night. She dreamed of the sounds of screaming and running. She was running through some dense fog that clung to her oddly. A figure wreathed in lavender light appeared suddenly and held a black orb with an odd maroon symbol at its center out to her. It shot itself into her chest and………BEEP BEEP BEEP-**SMACK**! Erin hit the alarm clock almost gratefully. That dream was way too wacky for her. 

         Erin yawned loudly making all the people in her class stare at her. She shrugged at them as Ms. Hawkins droned on about how Tokyo became Crystal Tokyo. Erin knew the story and didn't need to take notes; her mom told her it just about every day of her childhood. Zach, who sat next to her, was leaning back in his chair and dozing. Suddenly, the balance he had maintained disappeared and the chair fell. He woke with a yelp to the amusement of the class. Erin giggled at his dazed look. Ms. Hawkins cleared her throat loudly to get everyone's attention. When everyone was looking at her, she smiled coldly. "Now everyone, I'm sure my lecture has tired you out, so sleep now." She brought her hand down slowly and all the heads in the classroom bowed slowly, gentle snores emitting from each student. The only two left awake were Erin and Zach. Zach, who was still on the ground rolled away and called the others on his communicator. Something was definitely up. Erin on the other hand, jumped up. "Ms. Hawkins! You're seriously warped, you know?" Her voice shook as the teacher's suit shimmered and became her sailor suit. The woman known as Ms. Hawkins laughed quietly. "Really now, Miss Meioh, don't you think I know that? My brother assigned me to this school to watch some students. They have become quite the threat to his plans." Zach put two and two together and figured that her brother was Darkstar. He jumped up and pointed at the woman. "You! Your evil ways will come to an end! Darkstar's plan has been stopped before by the Neo-Team, defenders of truth and justice!" She scoffed at him, holding out her hand and whipping it upwards. Zach's body flew into the air and dropped suddenly. Erin ran over to see if he was all right, but Ms. Hawkins held her hand out again, stopping Erin's body. "W-what is going on? Who-what are you?" Erin screamed, struggling against the invisible hold on her body. "If you must know I am Sailor Darkstar also known as Lady Tiliana, sister of Lord Damien of Darkstar. I do his bidding and he gives me power. See?" She made her hand into a fist making Erin cry out in pain. It felt like Sailor Darkstar was squeezing her. Zach felt an angry lump rise to his throat. 'I have to transform! But then Erin would know who I am…' He thought, punching the floor out of frustration. He caught sight of his communicator and immediately pressed the one moon shaped button. "Guys! Get over to the Japanese History room! Ms. Hawkins is workin' for Darkstar and she's got Erin! HURRY!" He snapped it shut and jumped up. "You're gonna pay, Sailor Darkstar!"

_Mars Crystal Orb POWER!_

        Erin opened her eyes when she felt a wave of heat. Flames surrounded Zach and then he was wearing a strange suit and wielding two blades. Tiliana growled and threw Erin's helpless body into the wall. "Bring it on, boy!" The evil "teacher" called. The Knight of Mars grinned and rushed at her, daggers glowing red. Erin struggled up to her knees, gasping from the pain. That woman had squeezed her hard! She watched Zach fight the evil minion with surprising vigor. Erin cried out as he was flung against the wall near her. "Zach!" She crawled over to him. "Zach, please! Don't die!" He raised his head long enough to flash her his goofy, lopsided grin. "I won't, k?" Then he passed out. Erin clamped her tear filled eyes shut and stood up slowly, turning towards her foe. The Sailor Solider of Darkstar was standing with her arms crossed, her foot tapping impatiently. "Oh please! Don't tell me you liked that goof ball!" Erin's eyes flew open and narrowed angrily. "He was my friend, skank! No one hurts my friends! RAHHHH!" She ran forward, praying silently that her minimal amount of physical training would be enough. Sailor Darkstar easily stopped her rush and grabbed her by the throat. "Tsk, tsk! I'll have to punish you for attempting to hurt a teacher!" She squeezed hard, forcing a pained gasp out of Erin. A silver sword and a gold arrow flew into the scene; hitting Darkstar's hand and making her drop Erin. "Hold it! How many Sailor Scout wannabes are we going to fight?" Sailor Neo-Moon and the other Neo-Scouts stood in the doorway. "We can't tolerate you hurting our team member or an innocent! Prepare to face the wrath of-" Neo-Moon paused and the Neo-Team chimed in, one by one. "Mercury!" "Jupiter!" "Venus!" "And the Moon! We're the Neo-Team!" They all struck their poses. Darkstar merely wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Pu-lease! How corny can you get! Ah well. Take this!" She summoned a blast of crackling dark blue and purple energy, flinging at them. They all dodged and launched a counter attack.

_Mercury Bubbles Blast!_

A cold, dense fog filled the classroom, severely limiting visibility. Darkstar stood still and tried to sense Neo-Moon's power signature. She figured she could take out the leader and the rest would be easy money. Erin, in the mean time, was shivering near Zach's still body. Suddenly, Neo-Venus and Neo-Mercury were there. Neo-Mercury checked his vital signs and Neo-Venus gripped his hand. "Is he gonna be okay, Neo-Mercury?" The blond asked, her voice frantic. The blue haired soldier nodded. "Yes, his wounds are minor and will heal quickly." A smirk came onto the pale warrior's face. "Since when were you so worried about his well-being?" Neo-Venus blushed and dropped Mars' hand. "Since never!" 

        Erin watched this with a sinking feeling. Neo-Venus, whoever she really was, liked Zach. She couldn't compete with _that_ kind of beauty. Neo-Mercury turned to her, smirk gone. "Are you alright, Erin? Any serious injuries?" Erin shook her head, ignoring the burning feeling in her throat. "Guys! Help me-AHHH!!!" Neo-Moon's panicked voice forced the soldiers to the thinning patch of fog where Sailor Darkstar was. She had Neo-Moon floating near the ceiling and was slowly squeezing her hands open and closed, eliciting cries from the pink haired girl. "Neo-Moon!" The Knight of the Moon cried.

_Silver Saber STRIKE!_

        The blond man ran towards her, releasing the wave of silver energy from his blade at the last second. The flash seemed to blind Darkstar. "Wha-" She cried as Neo-Jupiter jumped towards her, calling,

_Jupiter Thunder STORM!_

Lightning rained all around Darkstar, making her drop Neo-Moon who was caught by the Knight of the Moon. Neo-Mercury nodded slowly, calculating what to do next. Too late! Darkstar stood up from where she had fallen during the thunderstorm. "Fools! Have you no idea who you are dealing with?" 

_Darkstar Crystal Knife!_

        Oddly enough, no black aura or red eyes preceded this one. Just black knives of energy racing towards the Neo-Team. "Shield!" Cried Neo-Moon as she ran to shield Mars' helpless form. All the beams aimed at the Neo-Team dissipated in their shield, but the only unnoticed one was the one heading for Erin. She saw it and merely stood there. 'So, this is how I go, huh? I always wondered…' Her thoughts melted into a senseless agony as the knife hit her. Her scream came out as almost a laugh. The pain was so releasing, she felt free in the darkness it left in her mind. 'Free…' Her thoughts faded away into the darkness of her mind.

        Neo-Moon cringed at Erin's scream. "No way! Erin has a Crystal Orb? What about Trista? I thought she was the eternal Guardian of Time!" The Knight of Venus was clearly confused by this. Neo-Mercury scanned Erin's already paling body. "Strange. No Crystal Orb has formed above her yet." Neo-Venus pointed out. And so it was. There was no Crystal Orb above Erin; just a shimmer of shifting lavender light.

        Erin saw the shimmer of the lavender light like a beacon at sea. It formed itself into the figure from her dream. Again, it held out that weird orb, silently. Above her physical body, the Crystal Orb of Pluto formed slowly as she reached for it in her mind. It was black with a maroon symbol of Pluto in it. The wings were black and lined with dark maroon. The shining figure seemed to nod and disappeared quickly. Erin smiled wryly. 'Destiny is a fickle mistress….' Just as her head made contact with the Orb, a maroon transformation stick appeared. Seeing it as she opened her eyes, Erin nodded, grabbing it. 

_Pluto Crystal Orb Power!_

        Maroon ribbons that glowed eerily shot out of the orb and surrounded her. They formed her body suit, black bows (long in back), maroon skirt and collar (two black stripes), knee high maroon boots with black tops, black choker with maroon symbol of Pluto, the Crystal Orb became the brooch, and a silver tiara with a maroon symbol of Pluto shimmered into existence. A shimmer of maroon light signified the appearance of the Time Staff (Key, Garnet Rod, whatever!). She grabbed the staff and posed like her mom had. 

        The Neo-Team looked on in awe at all this. The Knight of the Moon seemed to slightly relax after seeing her transformation. Something Art (NOTE: Art is Rylie's guardian cat now) had told him about the division of the Silver Crystal involved his leading the Outers. Pluto was the first of the Outer planets to appear in the first generation and therefore Rylie now had his own team to lead. Neo-Moon felt a hand on her shoulder when she made as if to run to the new warrior's side. Her brother smiled calmly at her and jogged over to the Pluto warrior. 

She was glaring at the female Darkstar coldly, just her like mom would've. "Guardian of Pluto, do you follow the gold or silver moon?" She turned to the handsome warrior of the Moon. Noting the silver medallion he held and seeing the gold one Neo-Moon had produced, she blinked. Her mother's words from a long time ago echoed like drifting smoke through her mind. _"-and when the time comes, the Guardian of Time will go to the Silver Light and fight for its cause."_ Sailor Neo-Pluto nodded curtly. "I follow the Silver Moonlight, pledging to fight for its cause eternally." She kneeled to her new leader. Then she jumped up and whirled on a stunned Darkstar. "You know what? Its people like you who make me angry. Overbearing control freaks with way too much power." Neo-Pluto said this in a quiet, toneless voice. The Knight of the Moon nodded and fixed Sailor Darkstar with a cold glare. "Lady Tiliana, you still can right your wrongs and allow us to heal you." This seemed to clear Darkstar's head and she laughed (more like cackled) loudly. "And betray my own brother? Fat chance, cape boy! Taste Darkstar POWER!" She threw a volley of black energy balls at the two newest warriors. Neo-Pluto spun her staff and the balls disappeared. The Knight of the Moon threw his now glowing sword at the female warrior, pinning her shoulder to the wall. "Now, Neo-Pluto!" He cried back at her. Nodding, Sailor Neo-Pluto focused. The she glared at Darkstar, words forming in her head.

_Pluto Chrono Disruption!_

        A quiet attack phrase and a loud, obviously strong, whirling vortex of space-time continuum. It swirled around her staff until she leveled the staff and sent whirling into Sailor Darkstar's helpless form. Her screams mingled with the whir of the vortex as she was de-aged (so to speak) until she was no more. Neo-Moon and the Inners watched in horror at this ruthless approach. They would've at least let her live and maybe give her a chance to repent. But this was way beyond cruel and was border line evil. The Knight of the Moon flashed an approving smile at his newfound partner. She was a strong warrior and ruthless when dealing with evildoers, like him. The two turned to the gaping Inners and stared back. Neo-Moon called out, "Rylie! Was killing her really necessary? Couldn't we have let her live and give her a second chance?" The knight shook his head. "Sister, you can't give beings of pure evil second chances." Neo-Pluto gripped her staff tightly. "Yes. All evil must be banished to the far reaches of the universe." Neo-Jupiter growled through clenched teeth, "Aria was given a second chance and she was once evil." Rylie glared at the younger warrior. "Aria is not pure evil and she never was!" 

Mars had woken up and sensed the crackling tension in the air. He stumbled towards his comrades shakily. "What happened?" Neo-Pluto looked at him longingly and then looked away. "A battle, Mars. A division of forces and a new warrior." The Knight of Venus stated plainly. Mars nodded slowly, seeming not to comprehend. The Moon Knight looked out the window at the sunset. "I have to leave you now. Goodbye, Neo-Pluto! Stay in touch!" He rushed for the nearby window, shattering it and disappearing into the gathering dusk. The Inners detransformed and watched as Neo-Pluto did the same. Erin watched the other students in the room wake up and run out of the room confusedly as the bell rang. She went to gather her books, but was stopped by the group of teens who were the Inner Neo-Team. "Erin! Will you really fight like that again?" Marina asked, a tone of curiosity underlying her panic. Erin closed her eyes with a slight, cold smile. "Yes. I fight to defeat the evils that threaten this world." Lee chimed in. "Even if it means killing?" A nod from the emerald haired girl drew gasps of slight shock from the others. Lea's eyes were teary again. "But Erin! Killing is soooo NOT cool!" Erin's dark red eyes snapped open and glared at the blond. "My style of fighting is none of your concern! I answer only to Prince Rylie, Knight of the Moon!" She grabbed her books and rushed out of the room, past the gaping group. That night was a new moon, a patch of darkness where there would've been the moon. But a lonely looking star glimmered far away from the other moon-stars. It winked down on CTU, who was short a teacher and now housed one more Neo-Team member.  


	8. Where the Sea Meets the Sky

CJ watched her as she gliding through the water so effortlessly, so gracefully. She was so perfect in every way that it made his heart ache just to see her. The way her back arched as she dove into the water, the way she slid through the deep blue waters, barely making them ripple. It was all too perfect! And then there was her personality! She was what he had always wanted and they had kinda always been together, so he had always had that perfection. He remotely remembered his mom telling him about her affair with Nikki's mom, Michelle. Maybe the two families were kinda destined to fall for the other, you know? "Whatcha thinkin' bout?" Nikki was leaning over his poolside bleacher seat where CJ was lounging while she swam. He opened his eyes from his musing thoughts and flicked at her soaked hair. It wasn't in its ponytail and it hung a little past her shoulders so it was hanging near his face. She laughed and squeezed some more water out of her hair onto him. "Hey!" He cried, sitting up and pretending to lunge at her. Nikki laughed again as she threw her towel at him. She ran all the way to the other side of the pool before he caught up with her. CJ grabbed her waist and spun her around. "Whoa there! No running near the pool, miss!" He said in a chiding tone. She grinned mischievously and leaned closer to him. "What are you gonna do bout it?" He leaned down and planted a kiss on her. She smiled mid-kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck.

                "That's how it happened, huh?" Aria was sitting on the couch in her and Rylie's private suite in the Palace. Rylie was telling her about Tiliana's attack at the school and how Erin had chosen his side. The serious faced young man nodded as he sipped at his tea. The raven haired woman fiddled with some of her hair nervously. "Lady Tiliana was dead the last time I saw her; murdered by her father, Drake. Damien stored her body in a block of black crystal so he could bring her back, but I never thought he had enough energy to do a feat like that." Rylie nodded again. "I was wondering what he could've been up to these past couple of months. Mother said she sensed a disturbance in the Time Realm, near the Gates of Time, not so long ago. Do you think Damien is planning on going back in time?" Aria's face fell. "Oh no!" Rylie's eyes darted to her. "What?" The young woman jumped up suddenly, a panicked look on her face. " I know what he's doing! Its his back up plan in case your plan didn't work!" Rylie stood also, eyes blazing. "What was his plan, Aria?" She turned away from him sadly. "He said he'd go back in time and capture one of the key members of the Sailor Scouts to turn them evil. Then he'd use them to gather energy from the people of Tokyo. So, it was like he'd be killing two birds with one stone; gathering massive amounts of energy and wiping out our chances of beating him in the future." Rylie caught on and pulled out his communicator, pressing the maroon button.

Nikki and CJ were walking back from the public fitness center later that night (it was Saturday) when they saw the weird light. It was flickering in the trees of the park near the fitness center. CJ locked eyes with his aqua haired partner and they both slunk towards the glimmer. They hid behind some trees and peeked around them to see what it was. A man dressed all in black with black hair and eyes stood next to a woman who looked quite beat up. Her red-orange hair and green eyes triggered CJ's memory. "Nik! That's Ms. Hawkins!" He hissed at the girl, who nodded. The man was holding a glimmering light out to Ms. Hawkins who seemed to absorb it. When all the light was gone, Ms. Hawkins thanked the man. "Thank you so much, brother. Those stupid Neo-Scouts ruined the plan and now I can't return to CTU without seeming suspicious." The man nodded slowly. "Yes, that does pose a problem, doesn't it?" He mused quietly. Ms. Hawkins looked at her feet sheepishly. "I'm sorry I failed you, brother." He looked at her with a cold look of resentment. "I do not tolerate failure, Tali." She gasped and stumbled back, fear etched onto her face. Her brother's thin lips twisted into a smile. "Fear not. I will give you one more chance to prove your worth. Return to CTU and stalk these two." He produced an orb that held the images of CJ and Nikki. They both exchanged frightened looks. Tali nodded. "Yes. I shall bring them to you, Damien so those meddlers can't interfere again." She turned and walked away, towards the school. Damien laughed and disappeared in a wave of black energy.

                Nikki wasn't sure why she was so scared of her history teacher, but she knew that the "teacher" had some hidden connections with evil. Nikki could sense that kind of thing, she always could. She was sitting on the edge of her bed, staring at Erin's back. Her friend was doing her homework diligently while Nikki forced herself to think of her and CJ's encounter with those two in the park. She knew Ms. Hawkins was out to get her and her boyfriend, but she had no clue why. All the plausible reasons had something to do with CJ's street fighting foes. But none of them had mystical powers. Furrowing her brow in thought, Nikki ignored the frustrated groans from Kylie, who was also doing her homework. "GODS! Why is this stupid geometry so HARD?" Nikki jumped at the tough girl's cry. Kylie threw her homework off her bed and pouted angrily. Marina's soft voice soothed everyone's raked nerves. "Calm down and bring me the assignment, Kylie. I'll help you." Nikki nodded slightly and got back to thinking. 

        After about ten more minutes of confused thinking, Nikki decided to sleep on it. 'Maybe a good dream'll get my mind off all that crap.' She thought lazily as sleep drifted to her. She dreamt that night, though none of them were good. Most of them involved the angry crash of waves on the shore or images of a raging storm at sea. The one that shook her up the most was of the newly discovered group of Sailor Soldiers being destroyed by a wave of darkness. 

                CJ glared at Lee from across the room. That preppy, wannabe was mocking CJ and Nikki's relationship. Zach was sitting on the floor doddling in one of his many doodle notebooks. The other guys in the room were either asleep or ignoring the afore mentioned three. Lee snorted at CJ in a very stuck-up manner. "Really, CJ! She deserves soooo much better. Like me, perhaps." CJ's slight growl went unheard, but Zach felt the wave of pure rage ripple out from his best friend and glanced at Lee casually. "Drop it, Lee. Stop acting like you can have any girl you want, Mr. Single." CJ grinned at the blonde's hurt expression. "I could to have whichever girl I wanted! And Zach! You're single, too, and by the looks of it, you're gonna stay that way." Zach crumpled the page he was working on angrily. CJ pushed aside his own urge to strangle Lee and let the spikey-headed dude go to work. "LEE! That was out of line, dude!" Zach rushed forward and grabbed Lee by the front of his pajama shirt, slamming him up against the wall. CJ drowned out the sound of their heated argument and the chorus of "FIGHT! FIGHT!" from his thoughts. He focused on the weirdos he and Nikki had seen in the park earlier. They gave him the creeps and not many things do that to the all-around tough guy. Sighing, he laid back on his bed, hoping sleep when rest his weary mind. 

                "So, you don't like him, now?" Nikki stared at a peeved looking Erin curiously. The angered girl shook her head. "No way! I don't like him and I never really did!" She shoved past her so-called best friend angrily. Nikki pouted. "Oh no! Now I've made her mad. Crap monkies!" "What's this about crap monkies?" CJ's gruff voice sounded from behind her. She whipped around quickly, still pouting. "I made Erin mad by pushing her about her crush on-" She stopped when she saw Zach meander over. "Uh some guy here." CJ blinked his blue-green eyes, slightly confused. Zach slapped the taller guy on the back in greeting. "S'up, CJ! Nikki." He nodded to the aqua haired girl. She merely shrugged. "I'm gonna go catch up with Erin, k? Talk to you two later!" She waved and ran down the hall after the retreating form of Erin. CJ sighed, shaking his head. "We've been together for over three years and I still don't really understand her." Zach chuckled. "Yeah, that's why I don't wanna girlfriend. Too much trouble!" CJ laughed gruffly. "Whatever! I heard you mumble someone's name in your sleep last night." Zach's face went crimson. "EEK! I talked in my sleep about her?!" CJ laughed and playfully shoved his blushing pal. "You're shootin' pretty damn high there, skip!" Zach cleared his throat. "I think she's just playing hard to get." The taller guy rolled his eyes. "Whatever, buddy." 

                Rini gasped for air as she came up from underwater. She hated this part of the stupid training Marina was forcing all the Neo-Team members through. Rylie and Erin hadn't shone up yet and it was pissing everyone else off. A single tone signaled them to do the next part of the session. Running. The pool shimmered and disappeared, being replaced by a long, straight track. Everyone's swimsuits disappeared, becoming running shorts and t-shirts with the CTU emblem on the front. Another tone. Time to run. Rini pushed her muscles to their full capacity, huffing and heaving, forcing her fatigue away. Lee and Lea passed her followed by Kylie, Zach, and, sadly Marina. The pink haired girl cried out in frustration as she stumbled, falling to the virtual reality ground. Sobs wracked her sweat soaked body, exhaustion and total frustration getting the better of her. "Rini! You okay?" Lea's gentle hand and concerned voice broke into her mind. She lifted her head slightly, wiping her tears on the front of her shirt. "I hate this, Lea! Why do we have to do this? Mama and the original Sailor Scout never did stuff like this and they saved the world a bunch." Marina's chiding voice drifted towards them as she jogged over. "Yes, they never did do any grueling training, Rini. But I know for a fact that this enemy is much stronger than all Sailor Moon's enemies put together. Darkstar needs to be taken seriously." Her frowning face joined Lea's over Rini. Something died in Rini then; her hope for the future.

                Helios closed his eyes sadly. She had given up already, the poor thing. So much was riding on her ability to lead this group of people that obviously didn't agree half the time. He blinked his eyes open, knowing what he had to do. Rushing towards the newly rebuilt temple, Helios silently called out to the Golden Princess he spoke of to Erin. A flash of gold light signaled her arrival. She had pale blond mixed with orange hair that flowed all around her and amber eyes that had seen too much. Her face looked like that of a twenty-year-old, but she was well over one thousand. A gold diamond shaped symbol glowed on her forehead. Her long, shimmering gold dress landed before she did. "You called for me, Helios?" Her voice was lilting and soft. Helios bowed low to her. "Yes, Princess Alexandria. I called to you so I could ask a favor of Your Highness." Alexandria nodded for him to continue. He stood and locked eyes with her. "I wish to assist Princess Lady Serenity and the Neo-Team in their fight against Damien of Darkstar." A cloud of doubt passed over the flawless face of the princess for a brief moment. Then she moved her hands in a series of complicated gestures. Three figures with angel wings appeared behind her throne. They glowed with a pale yellow, pale blue, and pale pink light that was too strong to see through. Helios recognized them as the Angelics, Guardians of the Sun Kingdom. "Ladies, Helios wishes to join the mortal struggle against Darkstar. What say you, Angelics?" Their answer was silent because they disappeared shortly after that. The golden glowing princess regarded Helios sadly a moment before holding out her hand. "Helios, long have you guarded this realm. Now that you make this request, I feel obligated to let you go. But, you will no longer be the immortal Priest. You will be an Earth bound, mortal body that only visits this realm in dreams." Helios bowed his head. "Ah! It is bittersweet, this victory!" He said this under his breath. Alexandria seemed to hear this and nodded. "Yes. When you are ready, I shall strip you of your immortal powers." He looked up at her with tear glistening eyes. "Princess, I am ready to go." He silently bid farewell to his home, Elysian, Realm of Dreams, as a soft golden light washed over him. The diamond shaped symbol flashed into life on his forehead and the flash transformed him into the white tuxedo-ed man. He stared through his mask at the golden image before him as it faded away.

        Everything focused again and he was standing on the top of the Crystal Palace. Sighing, he glanced around him. This was his permanent home now, the beautiful Earth that he had assisted in saving so long ago. A familiar voice broke him from his thoughts. "Who are you?" He spun around and smiled. Rini stood there in her CTU uniform looking quite shocked. Why she was on top of the Palace, he couldn't tell. By the looks of it she had been crying. "Ah! My princess!" Silently, he decided calling her 'princess' instead of 'maiden' would keep his identity secret a little longer. She blinked. "Huh? Who are you and why are you on top of the Palace?" Helios sighed. This was complicated. "I am a guardian of warriors with short skirts and long capes. The Angel of Dreams! I must bid you farewell, beautiful princess." He bowed and did a back flip off the palace. A soft cry from Rini made him focus on not dying from the fall. Uttering a phrase in a strange language, he touched his forehead. The symbol flared into life and a column of white feathers surrounded him. 

                Sailor Darkstar smiled at the destruction she was causing. CTU was burning and the thick black smoke seemed to bless her victory. She didn't even think about the chances of her targets being inside the building still or the fact that the Neo-Team still held Crystal Orbs that were useless if they died. She laughed insanely and blasted the school with another ball of black fire. 

        Rini shuddered and snuggled lower into her brother's couch. Her encounter with that dude on top of the Palace stuck out in her mind like a burning school (heh heh!). Rylie walked into the living room carrying a pot of steaming tea. "Here. Drink this and tell my again why you came here ranting and raving." He poured her a cup of the sweet smelling tea. She sipped it gingerly before speaking. "Well, I was freaking out cuz I saw this weirdo on top of the Crystal Palace, but that's not why I'm here." Her brother nodded and sat across from her. "I-Rylie, I wanted to warn you." Rylie choked on his tea. "Wh-what? Warn me against what?" Rini gripped the edge of the couch. She still couldn't believe they had made her do this! He was her brother, for God's sake! "If you ruthlessly kill anyone, evil or not, I'm afraid I'll have to punish you in the name of the Moon!" He blinked at her. "Huh? Rini, I have the feeling you don't mean that." She jumped up suddenly. "Yes I do! Why wouldn't I? When you and Sailor Neo-Pluto killed Sailor Darkstar I felt, well, sad. And really mad at you for killing her." Rylie closed his eyes, holding back his rage. "Rini, you have no clue how powerful Darkstar is. He is the direct servant of Chaos. His powers are horribly real and he's gaining power as we speak. You can't be merciful with his minions like you claim we have to. If you haven't noticed, I am my own person, not to mention the first born of this family. Does that not make me the heir to the throne?" His voice steadily grew louder and louder until he shouted that last part. Rini gasped. She had always thought that she would inherit the Moon Kingdom, but he had a point. He was the oldest and that made him the Crown Prince. Panic choked her. He had more authority then; he could deny her requests. "N-no. You…Me…." Her words faded into a sob. If she thought it was hopeless before, now there was no chance in Hell that he would listen to her. A simultaneous beeping made them both jump. Their flashing communicators sobered them both from their drunken state of rage. They both pressed the buttons and spoke at the same time. "Moon here!" Rini glared over at her brother who was already glaring at her. Lea's holographic image and Erin's image appeared over their communicators. Lea spoke first. "RINI! Get back to CTU on the double! Sailor Darkstar's back and she's blowing up the school!" Erin's voice was less frantic. "Rylie, she's back and I need your help fighting her." The two Moon heirs nodded, turned their communicators off, and turned to each other in unison. "I guess we've gotta talk about this later huh?" Rini asked. Rylie smirked. "Yeah! We've got an undead witch to kill! Ready?" Rini nodded. They pulled out their transformation sticks and thrust them into the air.

_Moon Crystal Orb Power!_

_White Moon Crystal Orb Power!_

After the pink and white lights faded, Sailor Neo-Moon and the Knight of the Moon stood ready to fight.

                Nikki stared at her burning school with a dazed expression. CJ was doing the same but an undertone of rage could be found in his eyes. Suddenly, they both sensed the coming danger behind them and they both whirled around. Sailor Darkstar stood there, her outfit ripped and stained from her previous battle with the Neo-Team. A gaping whole could be seen in her right shoulder where Rylie had thrown his sword. "I'm so glad you're both safe and sound out here. Wouldn't want those Orbs to go to waste, now would we?" CJ jumped in front of Nikki protectively. "Back off! I'll take you on, Ms. Hawkins!" The floating villain laughed. "I am no longer Ms. Hawkins! I am Sailor Darkstar, Lady of Darkstar and eternal slave to Lord Damien!" She formed a ball of black and blue flames and tossed it at the duo. CJ braced himself and they both flew backwards, rolling to a stop inches from the blazing school. Nikki screamed and jumped away. CJ was way ahead of her and was charging at Darkstar. He would've done some MAJOR damage if she hadn't blasted him with another ball of fire. He screamed and fell unconscious. "CJ! NO!!!" Nikki ran to him, grabbing his hands. "Don't die! Come on!" She bit back her tears and stood to face her adversary. Sailor Darkstar was walking towards her slowly, an evil grin on her face. Nikki crouched defensively. "Lets go, teach!" She ran forward with a crazed scream. Sailor Darkstar tossed her on top of CJ's still form. "HA! Too easy! Damien will shower me with praise for this victory!" She prepared to launch her attack when a voice sliced through her attention. "So, you've defeated some regular civilians. You must be really proud of yourself!" The Knight of the Moon stepped out from behind the pillar that formed one side of the front gates. Sailor Neo-Pluto whirled her staff and stepped up next to him. "I think we've been through the whole 'never hurt Sailor Neo-Pluto's friends' thing, haven't we?" "I fight for Truth, Love, and Justice and in the name of-" The Moon Knight started, but Neo-Pluto interjected. "Pluto!" "AND the Moon, we'll punish you!" They both posed and rushed towards Sailor Darkstar. She cackled insanely and threw a flurry of black fireballs at them. Neo-Pluto twirled her staff and cried,

_Pluto Deadly Scream!_

        The purple and red ball of energy rushed at the sailor-suited warrior, tossing her to the ground. Moon stepped above her fallen form, sword drawn. He pointed the gleaming blade at her throat. "What have you got to say for yourself, you undead minion of evil?" She laughed again, totally losing it. "I say this-DARKSTAR CRYSTAL KNIFE!" Four beams of black beams shot forward from her hands, rushing at the Nikki/CJ pile, Moon, and Neo-Pluto. Neo-Pluto was prepared and dodged the beam easily. Moon wasn't so lucky and was hit in the back with the black knife. He shouted out, dropping his sword. Nikki and CJ's screams mingled with his, creating a chorus of pain. Darkstar stood, shoving the pain stricken Moon away. Neo-Pluto caught him as he fell. "WHAHAHAHA! I've won, fools! Can't you just taste your defeat?" She laughed again as she walked over to Nikki and CJ's now still forms. Two Crystal Orbs floated above them. They were both dark blue with black wings, but one had a golden rod symbol of Uranus in it and the other had an aqua symbol of Neptune in it. Darkstar grinned hungrily and reached for them.

        Sailor Neo-Moon screamed. The flames were too strong all around her. She and the Inner Team had gone into the flaming school in hopes of saving some of the people within. They had gotten most of the survivors out before the building started collapsing. Neo-Moon had been trapped by a falling ceiling beam and separated from the others. Their cries could still be heard over the roar of the flames. Tears started at the corners of her red eyes as she realized they couldn't save her and that they'd die if they stayed any longer. 'Rylie'll take care of them and Darkstar's plot if I die, right?' She thought sadly before calling out to her friends. "Guys! Get outta here and don't worry 'bout me! You've still got Rylie to lead you, right?" A pause in the attack phrases made her listen closer, ignoring the searing pain that licked at her right side. "NO WAY! Sailor Neo-Moon, we'll save you!" That was Sailor Neo-Venus. Neo-Moon shook her head. "Go! Run as fast as you can and don't look back! There's no hope for me but you guys still a chance!" A collective cry of "NO!" Made her laugh, or was she sobbing? "GET OUT OF HERE NOW! I ORDER YOU AS LEADER OF THIS TEAM AND AS THE MOON PRINCESS! GO!" She screamed this at the top of her lungs, hoping her tears weren't too obvious in her voice. Silence. She sighed after a moment and gasped at her once ignored pain. The flames climbed higher and came closer to her. Neo-Moon stumbled back, trying hard not to lose her footing. A single white feather drifted into the circle of flames and landed near her pink booted foot. She looked at it with tear-glazed eyes. "Somehow I know you really aren't ready to die, princess." A familiar voice came from the direction the feather had come from. The man in the white tuxedo she had seen earlier was walking through the flames towards her. He was holding his cape around him and it seemed to protect him from the fire. He held out his hand to her when he got close enough. With a cry of relief she threw herself at him, clinging to the front of his pristine tuxedo. He wrapped one arm and the cape around her and leapt into the air, going through the window nearest them.

                She still couldn't feel her body; there was only numbness and the black around her. The last thing she remembered was being flung through the air and landing on top of CJ's still body. She couldn't even remember what had made her scream so loud before the black came. There was a faint glimmer of aqua light to her right and she flicked her eyes to it slowly. It was an orb of aqua light glimmering near her. CJ's voice slipped into the darkness her pain stricken body. "_Nikki, I think we need to kick that freak's ass. Go towards the light, Nik!_" She mentally smiled and pushed herself to the light. Her and CJ's physical hands reached up to the hovering orbs. 

                Neo-Pluto tried to force away the sadness she felt as his outfit shimmered and became his street clothes. His face was deathly pale and he still looked shocked. The clear Crystal Orb hovered over his chest, glimmering with a white light. Neo-Pluto held her hand over it, mentally pushing it back into his body. It slowly, painfully lowered itself back into its master's chest. The white and navy suit flashed back into existence on Rylie's body. He opened his blue eyes and stared into her dark red ones. She smiled quirkily. "Welcome back. Glad you're still with us." She helped him stand up slowly. He grinned, his eyes reflecting the flames from the school. "Lets go, Neo-Pluto! Just for that last attack we should make sure she never comes back to life." She nodded and scooped up his fallen sword, handing it back to her leader. They ran towards the evil Sailor Soldier who was just about to grab the Crystal Orbs above Nikki and CJ.

                Before their hands met the Orbs, two dark blue transformation sticks grew from the orbs themselves. Both of them opened their eyes at the same time. He looked at her and she looked back, both angrily smiling. They grabbed the sticks and thrust them into the air, crying

_Uranus Crystal Orb Power!_

_Neptune Crystal Orb Power!_

Golden rod ribbons traced with rock shards shot out of the Crystal Orb of Uranus and they wrapped themselves around CJ. More shards of rock spiraled around him as his dark blue suit with golden rod sleeve and collar cuffs and a golden rod symbol of Uranus on the front, a cape that is dark blue with another golden rod symbol of Uranus on the back and golden rod on the other side. The rock shards flew away from him and formed the Space Sword (Uranus' talisman). He grabbed it and landed in a similar pose to his mother's.

        Aqua ribbons that seemed more like water than ribbons shot out of the Neptune Crystal Orb and wrapped themselves around Nikki. A wave gathered behind her, steadily coming closer as the ribbons worked their magic. They formed her main suit, dark blue bows that were longer in the back, an aqua skirt and collar, the collar had two black stripes, a pair of aqua high heels, a dark blue collar with an aqua symbol of Neptune on it, white elbow high gloves that had aqua rolls at the tops, a silver tiara with another aqua symbol of Neptune on it, and, finally, the Crystal Orb became the brooch. The wave crashed around her and a few tendrils of it formed the Deep Aqua Mirror (Neptune's talisman). She posed like her mom had before her.

        The two new Neo-Team members stood proudly in front of Sailor Darkstar. She stared in awe at these obviously powerful warriors. Sailor Neo-Pluto and the Moon Knight had stopped running when they saw the transformations' lights. They locked eyes and smiled proudly. The Inner Team, still stricken over the loss of Sailor Neo-Moon, also arrived on the scene just as these two warriors transformed for the first time. Sailor Neo-Neptune and the Knight of Uranus began their speech. "Guarded by the planet of the winds, I am the Knight of Uranus." "Guarded by the planet of the seas, I am Sailor Neo-Neptune." Then they said in unison, "We are here to destroy evil doers in the name of our planets!" Then Neo-Neptune prepared to attack.

_Neptune Total Submerge!_

A towering wave crashed around her (like at the end of her transformation) and gathered into an aqua ball of energy. She glared at Sailor Darkstar and threw the ball of swirling water at her. It slammed into the villain with all the force of the wave that had created it. She screamed as she collapsed. The Knight of Uranus unsheathed the Space Sword, preparing to strike the final blow. "STOP!" A voice that most of the people watching had thought they would never hear again cried. Sailor Neo-Moon and some dude in a white tuxedo were running onto the scene. The Inner Team screamed joyously. "NEO-MOON!" The pink haired warrior winked at them with a triumphant smile. Then she sobered up, staring at the Outer Team who had assembled near Uranus and Neo-Neptune. She frowned. "I am afraid I can't allow you to attack her anymore, Outers." The Moon Knight unsheathed his sword slowly, almost sadly. "Sailor Neo-Moon, I know you are my sister, but if you are denying us the right to perform our sworn duty, I'll be forced to kill you." Gasps welcomed this comment. But Neo-Moon smiled slightly. "I knew you'd say that." She took off her tiara and it became a blade of pink energy. She spun it like a sword. "Then let's go, bro!" He grinned and rushed at her, blade gleamed in the light of the fire. 

        The Inner Team knew they couldn't interfere, but they watched with bated breath. The Angel of Dreams simply bit back his yells of "I shall fight for you, princess!" and "I love you Rini!" The Outers, meanwhile, seemed unsure of what to do. Neo-Pluto was watching worriedly. She liked Rini well enough that she didn't want to see her get hurt and she knew Rylie wouldn't seriously hurt his sister. But, Rini might just be pissed enough to want to hurt him. Neo-Neptune was gaping. This whole Sailor Soldier thing was new to her, but she was pretty sure that it didn't involve fights within the team. They were brother and sister judging by their dialogue before, so why were they fighting so fiercely? She felt Uranus' hand on her shoulder and she turned to look at him. His eyes held the reflection of the flaming school and the flashes of pink and silver light from the fight that was going on. "Its just sibling rivalry, Neo-Neptune. Don't worry." Neo-Neptune nodded, reassured by his calm words. Neo-Pluto gripped her staff as she heard Sailor Darkstar stumble to her feet behind them. She cried out to her team members and turned to face her foe. Sailor Darkstar looked crazier than she had before and she was spinning a bar of black energy above her head. "I haven't lost yet and I can still taste my victory!" Neo-Pluto growled under her breath and Uranus unsheathed the Space Sword. "Come on, freakazoid! I'll give you the fight of a lifetime!" He screamed out of rage and slashed the Space Sword.

_Uranus Space Sword CRUSH!  
          _The blade of the sword flared brighter as a g-force that would've been unbearable to a human shoved down on Darkstar. He rushed forward, blade outstretched, eyes glaring. He sliced through her body easier than a hot knife through butter. Her silent scream of agony was drowned out by the WHOOSH of the waiting g-force crashed down on her, smashing her to the ground. A sickening CRUNCH greeted the three nearest her as she was crushed. 

        Meanwhile, the 'sibling rivalry' fight was raging on. Neo-Moon screamed as his blade sliced into her arm, leaving a deep gash. She glared at him after she inspected the wound. He was standing there, staring at her with an emotionless expression. "Will you let us kill her now that you see I am your superior?" She narrowed her eyes fiercely. "I really don't think so!" She ran towards him, pink blade flaring higher into the smoky air. Everything seemed to slow down then; the Inner Team watched in horror as Neo-Moon's blade raced towards the Moon Knight's heart. The Angel of Dreams gasped as he felt Neo-Moon's sadness and rage course through his body. Neo-Pluto saw this all happening from the distance and ran as quickly as she could towards them. She threw herself between Neo-Moon's blade and the Moon Knight's body. Then everything sped up again and three screams echoed off into the night. The first was Neo-Moon's full of rage that faded into horror. Then came Neo-Pluto whose scream was simply agonized. The last was the Moon Knight's who caught Neo-Pluto's blood stained body as she collapsed away from the pink blade. His was of pure horror. Neo-Neptune and Uranus ran over, crying things about losing a team member they barely had. The Inner Team rushed over to see if Neo-Moon was okay and the Angel of Dreams frowned, disheartened at this turn of events. He did a back flip and disappeared in a swirl of feathers. 

        Neo-Pluto gasped at the pain, but sighed as she felt his arms grasp her. His voice whispered near her ear, full of horror and pain. "Erin, why? Why did you do that?" She coughed, covering her mouth with a white-gloved hand. Taking the hand away and grimacing at the red stain she saw, she looked up at his handsome face. "Too many reasons…. I just felt like it…don't forget me, k?" She felt his grip on her shoulders tighten and he said something that she couldn't hear as everything faded into darkness. 

        The Knight of Moon gripped Neo-Pluto tightly, hoping he could keep her alive long enough to get some help. Neo-Neptune fell to her knees, realizing who Sailor Neo-Pluto was. Uranus gripped her shoulder as she sobbed against his leg. Neo-Moon watched, horrified at the damage she had dealt. She lifted her blade and dropped it as if it burned her hand. Before it hit the ground, it turned back into her tiara. The Moon Knight knew it was his entire fault that Neo-Pluto had been hurt so badly, possibly killed. If he had just listened to Neo-Moon….Uranus' low, gruff voice broke the silence around them all. "You know, I just killed Sailor Darkstar, so that whole fight was pretty stupid, huh?" Everyone, but Neo-Pluto, looked at him, slightly shocked. Neo-Moon cried out in rage and frustration at herself. "This is all my fault! The blood stains my hands and my conscience! Someone kill me now!" She pushed away Neo-Venus' reassuring arms. She ran off into the city, tears flying out behind her and sobs interjected with cries of things like "I hate my life!" and "I should've died in that fire!"

        Mars held Neo-Venus back when she tried to run after her friend. Eyes tear filled, she wrapped her arms around him tightly, as if his embrace could stop the pain in her heart. Neo-Mercury knelt by the still form of Neo-Pluto who was still being held by the Moon Knight. She pressed her right earring and the light blue visor flickered into existence in front of her eyes. Doing a quick scan, she nodded definitely. Standing, she turned to her comrades. "We can still save her. If we combine our powers into a healing energy, we can heal her." Glancing at each Inner and Outer Neo-Scout, she turned back towards Neo-Pluto. They all closed their eyes, preparing to channel their energies. 

_Mercury Crystal Orb Power!_

_Venus Crystal Orb Power!_

_Mars Crystal Orb Power!_

_Uranus Crystal Orb Power!_

_Neptune Crystal Orb Power!_

_White Moon Crystal Orb Power!_

As they each said these phrases, their tiaras (if they had one) disappeared and their respective symbols flared into life. The Moon Knight felt all their power grow inside him, but he was at a loss of what to do to transfer that power to Neo-Pluto. Then he remembered an old story about a sleeping princess and prince that awakened her with a kiss. Turning his body so he could kiss her better, he leaned down a planted a gentle kiss on her cold lips. The transfer of energy took seconds and Neo-Pluto's eyes flew open to stare at the Knight of the Moon's closed eyes and, well, him kissing her. Shocked, she tapped him on the shoulder gently. He opened his eyes and sat up, blushing slightly. "It worked!" He called to the others who had seen the whole thing and were smiling at the two of them. Neo-Pluto stood up and looked around seriously. "Where's Neo-Moon? I want to tell her it's okay that she almost killed me." The Knight of the Moon's face fell and he shook his head. "She's gone. Ran off that way." He motioned to the city and Neo-Pluto sighed. 

        And so, two stars, closer to each other than the other stars, joined the waxing crescent moon in the sky that night.


	9. Dark Silence

How she loathed the life she had been given. Everything in her memory seemed to torment her in some unearthly way and she could never escape those memories. Most girls her age would be thrilled to have the life she did, but being the daughter of the Princess of Earth's best friend wasn't exactly her idea of perfect.

Perfect would be not living in Crystal Tokyo and never having to hear about the Sailor Soldiers again. For some bizarre reason, she saw them differently from everyone else; she hated them with every bone in her body. 

        At the moment she was far from her reality, her mother, her grandfather, and her mom's friends. She was safely tucked away in CTU. As an insurance against freak accidents (like the fire that raged in the original CTU the week before) the engineers had been instructed to build two schools. One of the schools was built in the heart of Crystal Tokyo and the other on the outskirts of the city, in the Juuban District. So after the weird fire all the students were sent home for a week and then received letters instructing them to go the campus at Juuban. Most parents refused to let their children return, but some didn't mind. Those who didn't mind had been in Tokyo long enough to know that LOTS of weird things happen there.

It was a rainy day, her favorite kind of day, when everyone else seems to be moody and upset at the sight of the dark clouds and endless rain. She liked the gloomy atmosphere the rain provided, she liked the dark, brooding feeling it gave off. Her new favorite place was in front of the window she now stood in front of. It was the perfect window for watching the rain since it was above many of the other buildings. Yes, Tara liked the rain. It always seemed to soothe her, somehow. "Tara? You alright?" A concerned voice shattered her brooding peace into a thousand teeny little pieces. Turning her head away from the window, Tara saw Erin Meioh, the oldest girl in their dorm. She was only two years older than Tara, but her eyes seemed years and years older. Tara, unhappily, had to admit that she sort of liked Erin Meioh, just a little. Erin's dark red eyes narrowed sharply. "Tara? You in there?" Tara's deep, dark eyes locked with Erin's and made the taller girl shudder. "I'm fine." The whispery reply came quickly from the pale girl. Erin nodded hastily. "Good! Good! I was starting to worry for a sec! Well, time for Chemistry for me. See you at lunch?" During her ramblings, Erin had started to walk towards the door. Tara didn't reply vocally, she merely moved her hand in a dismissing nature. 

          Tara stood just outside the doors of the new CTU watching the rain pore down. The smell of wet pavement and soggy leaves from the nearby trees calmed her outraged emotions. She was so angry because of what that silly ditz Lea had said to Lee. She had told him about how much Tara secretly liked him. Tara was so mad she couldn't even say anything when he asked her about it three seconds later. All she did was turn and run away, to the spot she was standing in now. Closing her dark eyes, she sighed, trying to push all her anger and embarrassment away. Without a moment's hesitation she ran out into the rain letting the cold drops cleanse her. Stopping at the bottom of the stairs, Tara did something she rarely did; smile. It was a small, self-satisfied smile brought on by the ice cold of the raindrops soaking her uniform and plastering her hair to her head. As she stood there ignoring everything the world had to offer her, a shadow formed near her body. It quickly took the shape of man, and then the features came into focus. Lord Damien of Darkstar stood next to Tara, watching her with a strange look on his face. It was like a mix between jealousy, disgust, and hunger. Instead of his usual black outfit he was wearing normal, Earthling man clothes. He looked very normal, like he would blend in with all the other young men in Crystal Tokyo. "You know, you'll get a cold if you stay out here too long." He said softly to the girl beside him. Tara jumped and turned quickly. She narrowed her eyes at this stranger. "Who are you?" She asked in her quiet, cold voice. Damien smiled. "My name is Damien Tomoe and I'm your older brother, Tara." Tara blinked furiously, trying to knock the raindrops out of her eyes. He did bear strong resemblance to Drake, Tara's father, but that didn't prove anything. When he got no answer, Damien reached into his pocket and pulled out an old picture. Tara snatched it, glaring down at the yellowing photograph. Hotaru, Drake, a little boy with black hair, and an infant Tara were standing together in front of the house Tara grew up in. "I-" Tara started to deny the whole thing, claiming it was some scam. But Damien held up his hand with a defiant shake of his head. "I know this is all very astounding to you right now, but you have to believe me. Call our parents if you want to check it out." He produced a small phone (waterproof, of course) handing to his "little sister". Tara hastily dialed her home number and prayed that her parents would pick up. Suddenly, a black symbol flared into life on the phone, blasting her with a wave of dark energy. She didn't even get the chance to scream before she collapsed with a light thud and a splash. Damien grinned and his eyes went red again. A ring of black fire circled them before closing in, transporting them to the Darkstar dimension.         Diana and Art had seen the whole thing from their spot in the common room of Rini's dorm. They both meowed loudly and dashed over to where all the Neo-Team had assembled. Rini sat, teary eyed, next to a remorseful looking Erin and everyone else was just watching them. "Guys! We have a major crisis!" Art called out, leaping onto Rylie's shoulder. Diana jumped into Rini's lap so she could scream in her face, "RINI! Snap out of it! Darkstar has kidnapped Tara Tomoe! We have to help her!" There was a shocked silence, and then all Hell broke loose. "What?" "Poor Tara!" "Damien! I'll get you!" and other outraged comments rang through the small room causing Marina, the only calm one, to cry, "Everyone, settle down! We need to shut up and think up a plan on how to get Tara back!" No one had ever heard Marina shout before so they did shut up, staring at the brainy girl. She cleared her throat loudly. "Now that I have your attention, I suggest we brainstorm on a clever attack plan." Erin looked the most concerned so she jumped into the conversation first. "Tara really isn't as strong as she tries to make everyone think she is. She's just a scared little girl, deep down." Her voice faded slightly. Rylie caught himself staring at her and looked quickly away. Nikki and CJ both looked like they would jump up, transform, and jump out the door quicker than you could say, "Ah snap, dawg!" Lea was wringing her hands nervously while Lee furrowed his brow in thought. Zach was clenching and unclenching his fists near the out of it looking Rini. She seemed to suddenly get what was going on because she jumped up. "Guys! I know a way to get to Darkstar's hideout!" Everyone looked at her, shocked that she was actually talking again. Rini rushed over to Marina and took her by the shoulders. "Marina! Do an energy-trace scan on the courtyard down there. We need a fix on what kind of dark energy Darkstar leaves behind." Marina nodded, pulling out her laptop and going to the window. She typed on it for a few minutes as the others watched in silence. Rini started pacing back and forth, back and forth. A loud beep signified that Marina's scan was done. She turned around slowly, her glasses reflecting the small screen of her computer. Rini hurried over and read the data over the genius's shoulder. She blinked, obviously confused. "Uh, what do those little symbols mean?" Marina sighed and shook her blue head. "Those are the energy readings, Rini. Here," She pointed to a specific area on the screen. "Is where it tells you what type of energy the scan read, this is where it tells you the amount of energy the trace-scan picked up, and this is-" Rini learned quickly and interrupted Marina's explanation. "Where it tells you where the person or thing that left the energy there is! Got it!" Rini turned to the others, a serious but confident look on her face. "Alright, guys! We have an innocent to save here, so lets get goin'!" They all nodded. "Right!" Rini pulled out her transformation pen and the others followed suit. Moon Crystal Orb Power! White Moon Crystal Orb Power! Mercury Crystal Orb Power! Mars Crystal Orb Power! 

_Jupiter Crystal Orb Power! ___

_Venus Crystal Orb Power!___

_Pluto Crystal Orb Power!___

_Uranus Crystal Orb Power!___

_Neptune Crystal Orb Power!___

The entire Neo-Team stood transformed in the common room of one of the dorm rooms in CTU. "Now how are we supposed to get where ever it is that Darkstar is?" The Knight of Mars asked impatiently. Diana and Art were way ahead of him. "Everyone! Join hands and form a circle!" Diana called. Art joined in. "Focus all your energies on getting to where Darkstar is!" Each mythical hero lit up with their respective aura colors from where they stood in the circle. "SAILOR TELEPORT!" The two guardian cats cried just before the whoosh of gathering power sucked the air out of their lungs. When they recovered, the Neo-Team was gone.

        They materialized in a dark chamber, the only light coming from behind what looked like a huge throne. It wasn't a bright or even steady light. There was a purple hue to it and it was constantly shifting. Silently they crouched defensively as Sailor Neo-Moon and the Knight of the Moon stepped in front of all of them. "Hello? Is anyone there?" Neo-Moon shook slightly as it echoed off into the dark infinity of the chamber. There was no response. The Knight of the Moon motioned the others forward and they all advanced. As they got within spitting distance the light flared up abruptly. A voice, vaguely familiar to most of them, spoke from within the light. "Why do you come to this place of most hollowed silence?" Neo-Pluto recognized the voice. "Tara!" Everyone else looked at the usually quiet warrior. Mars nodded fiercely to the Knight of Venus and they both prepared to say something. Neo-Mercury cut them off by making a shocked noise in her throat. She was looking through her VR visor. "What is it, Neo-Mercury?" Neo-Neptune asked. The blue haired girl shook her head and whispered. "Its not Tara up there, its Darkstar and he's is too strong for us." Neo-Moon smiled suddenly. "I don't think so! We have one thing he couldn't have in a million years! Friendship!" After a short pause, Neo-Moon's older brother smiled as well and put his hand out, palm down. "All for one?" One by one the others put their hands over his, Neo-Moon being the last and they all cried, "And one for ALL! NEO-TEAM!"  "Hit him with everything we've got, team!" Neo-Moon screamed as she prepared her attack.

_Pink Crystal Storm!___

The pink crystals raced towards the glaring light and bounced off an invisible shield. "Huh?" The pink haired warrior squeaked, clearly confused. "Let us try!" The Venus twins stepped up (figuratively speaking).

_Venus Crescent Beam Gattling!___

_Venus Mega Love Chain Mummify!___

        Orange and yellow energy beams rushed at Darkstar and, once again, hit the barrier. Mars, Neo-Mercury, and Neo-Jupiter all tried a combination attack next and even that didn't work. The Outer Team, obviously stronger, went at it longer, but to no avail. Laughter suddenly emanated out from the violently shifting purple light. "FOOLS! There is no way you can pierce this barrier! My baby sister is supplying it with her innocence and purity! WHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Neo-Moon fell to her knees. They were losing again. Why had she pushed them all to come with her here? She could've come by herself, been defeated by Darkstar, and left Rylie to carry on. No, that's not what she wanted. She wanted to help her friends, her parents, all the people on Earth, and poor, innocent Tara Tomoe. A tear raced down her cheek splashing onto the black floor silently. The Moon Knight saw this and knelt next to her, trying to console his heartbroken sister. The others were puzzled by what Darkstar had said. "Baby sister?" Neo-Mercury tilted her head thoughtfully as she said this. Mars was very frustrated with all of this. "This sucks! Why can't he just tell us what he's doing so we can at least TRY to stop him?" Darkstar reacted to the fiery warrior's outburst. "Knight of Mars, I shall answer your request. I am planning on using her," The light died down and they could see that Darkstar was sitting on the throne, Tara floating in a shimmering capsule of purple energy near his right arm. "To destroy all of you. You're all wondering why I called her my baby sister, correct? She is my little sister, well half-sister, really. You see her father and my father are the same, Lord Drake Darkstar, the first Lord Darkstar. Your parents fought him years ago. Well, he had a wife before he came to Earth and I am the result of that sour marriage. Tara on the other hand is the result of that awful Silver Crystal purifying my father and making him full madly in love with one Hotaru Tomoe." He paused to stare at Tara blankly. Neo-Pluto covered her mouth with her hand. "Tara has the power of Saturn and Darkstar running through her veins." She whispered this loud enough only for the Knight of the Moon to hear. His face darkened as he whispered this to the other Outer Team. The Inner Team seemed too slow to grasp that concept and were still trying to figure out why Hotaru would love an ex-villain. Meanwhile, Darkstar had conjured up a dark energy re-creation of a clock. Its hands were at 11:51 pm. "As I was saying, I plan on using my lovely little sister here to finally kill off all of you. Her birthday is tomorrow, you know and she'll be 16, the official age that she comes into her powers. And she has to decide what her powers with embody at exactly that point. If her heart and mind are pure, she's Sailor Neo-Saturn. If not, she is the new Sailor Darkstar, the Warrior of Darkness, the Lady of Darkstar!" He burst into hysterical laughter making all the Team flinch. 

                Why couldn't she move? Why did she feel cold all over? Who was laughing so damn much and what was so funny? Tara stumbled, blindly, through her own thoughts. Desperately trying to make sense of all the jumbled emotions and half formed ideas. Something was making her head feel funny, it was making her feel like she was losing herself to the darkness creeping along the edges of her half-crazed mind. Just then, she opened her eyes to see Damien standing beyond what looked like a shimmering wall of purple light. He was facing away from her, but she knew it was he; she could feel it. Beyond him, she spotted the Neo-Team. Whatever he was telling them about it was making them all act very surprised. One of them seemed to understand better than the others. She looked oddly like Erin Meioh, Tara's almost-half-semi-kinda-friend. Tara glanced quickly at the other members of the Neo-Team. All of them looked vaguely familiar, but the buy in yellow and orange with the kind, concerned gray-blue eyes made her heart skip a beat. It was Lee. Tara gasped. She knew who they all were at that instant. She blinked and tried to make sense of her situation. '_Trapped in some bubble of purple light with my big brother explaining something to the Neo-Team who are really students from CTU._' Tara felt a flutter of pride at herself because she actually made a train of thought that made sense! She turned her head and saw a black clock-thing floating on the other side of some sort of throne. Its hands read 11:55 pm. It was almost her 16th birthday. She congratulated herself on being able to remember her own birth date and then tried, once again, to figure out how and why she was where she was. 

                They were running out of time. It was already 11:55 and Tara was still in that bubble. The Moon Knight was explaining his plan to the other Outer Team members while the Inners ranted at Damien or cried uselessly all over the place, like Neo-Venus was doing. The Knight of Venus was staring past the dark lord and directly at Tara. He noticed she was awake and was looking around. Her eyes flicked from the clock to his eyes and for an instant he saw the little girl that Erin had spoken of before. Her eyes filled with tears as he smiled and winked at her. Secretly he she knew who they were and she was crying because she knew they'd try to save her and probably die doing so. If he could've, he would've told her it'd be okay and that they had fought tons of battles where it looked they weren't gonna make it. He would've wiped her tears away and smiled comfortingly. But all he could do was smile half-heartedly and wink at the girl floating up there in that bubble of purple light. She wasn't being affected by Darkstar's dark energy as long as he could keep her looking at him. But he'd have to be careful that Damien didn't see him doing this. 

        Meanwhile, the Moon Prince had just finished explaining his plan and the Outer Team moved to their positions in front of the other Neo-Team members. Neo-Moon looked a little surprised. "Uh, what's going on, Knight of the Moon?" She cried, grabbing her brother's arm as he moved to the front of the pack. He smiled warmly at his baby sister and took her face in his gloved hands. "Rini," He whispered gently. "Take care of them and of mom and dad, alright? You're going to make a beautiful Queen of the Moon someday." Neo-Moon didn't really want to let go of his arm as he moved away, releasing her face. She knew exactly what he had meant in saying all that; he was not going to be coming back from this last attack. She clenched her fists as he walked away, wishing she had the strength in her to go with him. But she just closed her eyes, letting her tears flow down her face. 

        "Alright, Outer Team! Its time to take it up to the next level!" The Knight of the Moon called as he tensed for battle in front of his team. Neo-Pluto leveled her staff at Damien, her eyes emotionless. Neo-Neptune got into position for her mother's attack and the Uranus Knight unsheathed the Space Sword. The Moon Knight looked back over his shoulder and nodded confidently at them. He didn't have to tell them they might not come back from this battle. He knew they knew full and well that fact. He closed his eyes and focused all the energy the Moon lent him into his sword. He pulled it out when he felt it reach its peak. "Ready?" He cried. "Ready!" The answer came. Rylie nodded again and prepared to rush at Darkstar. 

_Silver Saber Slash!_

He cried, leading his team towards their foe. Attack phrases joined his own silver wave of light.

_Neptune Deep Submerge!_

_Uranus World Shaking!_

_Pluto Deadly Scream!_

The energy attacks formed into one large ball and joined with the silver wave from the Blade of Selenity. The whole thing rushed at Darkstar and a flicker of fear rushed over his pale face. Seconds before it hit him there was a flash of purple energy. When it faded, Tara was standing in front of her brother, arms outstretched, a look of absolute confusion on her face. The Outer Team froze. "Tara! What are you doing? Get out of the way! We don't have any time left!" Neo-Pluto screamed at her friend. Tara shook her head. "No! I won't let you hurt him! He may be your enemy, but he's my brother and I won't let anything happen to him!" Darkstar smiled from behind his defiant little sister. He summoned an orb of black energy, preparing to push it into her back. Only the Inner Team saw this from their position off to the right of the throne. Neo-Moon's eyes widened and the whole team looked at the clock. Seconds separated them from when Tara had to decide which side she needed to be on. If Damien shot her full of dark energy at that instant she'd be on his side. The Venus Knight knew what he had to do. "Tara! Don't forget me, k?" He cried as he summoned all his strength for an attack.

        Tara looked at Lee, her face stained with tears already. She knew what he was doing, trying to keep her from dying or whatever by sacrificing himself. She couldn't take it anymore. "No!" She screamed as she threw herself off the throne dais and ran towards her crush that was glowing with orange light. The ball of black energy Damien had gotten ready for Tara flew through where she'd have been and blew up when it hit the invisible barrier. His outraged scream echoed through the chamber. Tara wasn't paying attention. She stopped in front of Lee, er, the Knight of Venus. Her teary eyes locked with his and he smiled weakly. The aura of orange had died down and he was just standing there. Tara blushed furiously. "Thought I lost ya for a second there, huh?" She shook her head, trying to make her tears go away. "I wasn't going anywhere…" 

        While all this was happening, Damien was growling under his breath in some ancient demon language. A dagger appeared in a shimmer of black light. He grabbed it and smiled. "I will have my revenge, Venus boy!" He cried. He tossed the dagger with all his energy at the Knight of Venus. Tons of things happened all at once then. Neo-Venus screamed in absolute terror, Neo-Moon gasped, the other Inners prepared to attack Damien, while the Outers were already on the dais doing just that, the Knight of Venus saw the dagger and shoved Tara out of its path, and then the dagger hit him. Tara couldn't scream or even move. She just watched the dagger hit him and throw him to the ground. The blade turned black and seemed to burn Lee. He cried out in pain. Tara closed her eyes, trying to escape everything that was happening. Lee screamed again as his transformation reversed itself and he lay there, in his CTU uniform, eyes closed tight, breathing slowing. Tara stood there as most of the Inner Team and all of the Outer Team attacked Damien with all they had and Neo-Venus ran over to them. She stood there like a pillar of silence in the chaos. In her mind, she was all alone in the rain like before Damien had come. The cold drops fell like tears on her, calming her again. 

        Neo-Venus fell to her knees by her twin, sobbing uncontrollably. Lee's eyes stayed squeezed shut as if the pain was the only thing keeping him alive. Neo-Moon couldn't drag her eyes away from Lee and Neo-Venus. Why hadn't he summoned the energy shield? He'd still be okay if he had. A cry for her pulled her attention to the battle. "Neo-Moon! Help!" It was Neo-Jupiter. She and all the others were floating in the air, being strangled by some dark hands of some sort. Darkstar was the source and was laughing as his eyes went red and her friends continued to be strangled. Neo-Moon knew she couldn't take him out by herself. She felt useless just standing there, staring as all this happened. Then a face flickered into her mind and she ran over to where Lee was laying. "Tara! Tara! We need you!" She grabbed the pale girl by her shoulders and shook her hard. Getting no response, she slapped the smaller girl across the face.

        Tara felt the stinging pain and her eyes snapped open. She found herself staring at a teary Sailor Neo-Moon. "Please…" She whimpered before falling to her knees. Tara looked down, pitilessly, at the sobbing hero. Then her eyes fell on Lee and his twin sister. And then she looked over at where Darkstar was strangling the others. She saw Neo-Pluto's staff fall from her limp hands and the clank of it hitting the ground reached her ears louder then anything else. Something died in her then, her resistance to the power building within. Something about the way Neo-Pluto's staff hit the ground made her scream like her soul was being ripped out of her. In a way it was because the Crystal Orb of Saturn formed in front of her chest when she started to scream. It was dark purple with a black symbol of Saturn and black wings. Without hesitating, Tara reached out for it. A black transformation pen grew out from the Orb and she grabbed it and in her whispery voice, said,

_Saturn Crystal Orb Power!_

Black ribbons shot out of the orb and wrapping themselves around her like shadows, they formed her suit. Dark purple bows that were long in the back, a black collar with two black stripes that you could barely see, a black skirt, black knee high, lace up boots, and the Orb became the brooch. A dark purple choker with a black Saturn symbol on it shimmered into exsistence followed by a silver tiara with another black symbol on it. A shadow like thing appeared beside her and it snapped its red eyes open, handing her the Silence Glaive. She ended the transformation by slashing the thing away and posing like her mother before her. 

        "Sailor Neo-Saturn! The Soldier of Silence was re-awakened!" Neo-Saturn said quietly. She had her eyes closed but she snapped them open to stare coldly at Darkstar. "I have been born anew, Darkstar, to your dismay. I fight for Silence and the end to all Chaos." She suddenly leapt into the air, did a flip, and landed next to Darkstar. She smiled at his shocked expression as she gathered her energy for an attack.

_Saturn Silent Fury!_

Another shadow thing (like the one from her transformation) seemed to flow out of the Glaive. It screeched as Neo-Saturn reached out and grabbed it. She crushed it into a little ball before shoving it outwards. Then she brought the Glaive up in a slow arch. A trail of purple energy followed as she sliced the ball sending the pieces flying at Darkstar. He snickered as they circled around him. Then a flare of black signaled that the pieces were absorbing his power and sending it to Neo-Saturn. A drained Darkstar fell to his knees while all the Neo Team members who were floating fell down to the ground, the black hands gone. Neo-Saturn was glowing with a shifting black aura; her eyes flashed red before dying down back to their original dark violet. 

        The Moon Knight stared in awe at his new warrior. She had single handedly stopped Damien in his tracks by _absorbing _his energy. Without a word, the Silent One turned and walked slowly back to where Lee lay. She knelt on his other side and set her Glaive down. Then she took his hands from the sobbing Neo-Venus and a purple aura flashed into life around her. Along with the power of Saturn, she inherited her mother's healing ability. Lee's whole body started to shimmer with the purple light and the black dagger turned into dust, blowing off of his healed chest. He opened his eyes slowly, in time to see Neo-Saturn stand, her suit shimmering with that same purple light. There were a flash and Tara collapsed where Neo-Saturn had stood. 

                Later on that day, just as the sun was rising above Crystal Tokyo, Tara opened her eyes to see the whole Neo Team around her bed. She sat up quickly, confused. "Happy Birthday, Tara!" They all cried at the same time. Smiles and laughter echoed around her and, for once, she smiled too. She had finally found something in laugh she could count on, her new friends. That night the sky was overcast while the storm that had raged the day before, but through the clouds you could see a single star, glimmering near the moon. 


	10. Regret's Pain

The whole Neo-Team was assembled at the Cherry Hill Temple, following tradition, for a meeting. Zach was leaning on his broom in his Shinto robes looking bored; Lea and Lee were in the latest fashions looking happy as always and yet somehow bored. Marina was yacking about her new plans. Rini stood next to her, looking over the genius' shoulder nodding and agreeing with everything she said. Kylie was sparring with CJ and was smirking every time she got a fair hit in on the street fighter. He wasn't trying very hard, so he smiled every time she hit him, too. Nikki and Erin stood watching the mini-fight with a disconcerted air. Tara was staring at the sky where dark clouds had been forming for a while. Rylie stood near Rini and Marina so he could hear their plans. Art was napping in the weak autumn sunlight while Diana hung off of Rini's shoulder adding her two cents to the plans. Everyone seemed to be comfortable with their sense of peace. Their confidence in beating Darkstar was amazing for a group of rookie scouts who barely had a handle on working together very much nonetheless fighting a guy like Damien. Zach yawned suddenly and it was a loud yawn. "Who cares about some stupid plan? I mean, now that we're a full team, we can kick Damien's-" Lea clapped her hand over his mouth. "Zach!" She chided him. Marina took her glasses off and rubbed her eyes. "Zach, we need some sort of plan." Rini said with a smirk. "Yeah, we can't just rush in and fight with a bad ass like Damien." CJ said as he dodged Kylie's flying fists easily. Nikki and Erin merely nodded, content with not speaking. "Tch!" Zach starting sweeping up the fallen leaves again, muttering about plans and how dumb they were. Rylie turned away suddenly. "You guys have no idea how powerful Damien really can get. He's a reincarnation of darkness, it's in his blood." He glanced over at Tara who was still staring at the sky. She didn't seem to care about that last comment. Rini looked at the ground and then back up at her brother. "Rylie," He turned to her. "I know Damien's strong, maybe even way stronger than us, but we have something he doesn't." Lea nodded. "Yeah!" She looked to the rest of the Inner Team. "We've got friends!" Nikki picked up on where they were all going with this and grinned, looking at her teammates. "We've got teamwork." The feeling of semi-confidence in the group rose slightly from their comments. Maybe they didn't have the sheer power to beat Darkstar, but they would stick together through thick and through thin. 

        Rylie gathered the Outer Team after the meeting with the Inners ended. Tara pretended to pay attention while staring at the sky every few seconds, a look of fear growing in her eyes. Erin was leaning against a nearby tree, her eyes closed in thought and Nikki and CJ were standing close to their leader looking honestly attentive. "Now, I know Marina's the Neo-Team strategist and all, but we need our own plan of action. Our fighting style is decidedly different from the Inners' style, as you all know. I'm willing to sacrifice everything if it will bring peace back to Earth and my sister wants no lives to be lost, evil or not." He paused to let them digest this. CJ nodded. "I'm with ya there, Rylie. But, how are we gonna beat Darkstar on our own?" Nikki looked equally confused on that note. "Yeah, I mean we're strong and everything, but without the Inners we're just sorta half a team, ya know?" Tara brought her dark eyes to Rylie who held the unsettling gaze steadily. "We need their help as much as you hate to admit it." Erin was silent, but she at least opened her eyes to see how Rylie would take this. He looked calm except for his eyes. "Listen, we are our own team. I am your leader; you are your own support. Depend on yourself before you depend on others; learn to trust your abilities above all else." He turned away from them on the pretense of watching Rini and the Inners have a sudo-fight.

         Rini took a deep breath and launched into a summary of Marina's plans which took about a quarter of the time it had taken Marina to explain them. The whole team nodded and added something here and there when needed. Zach yawned when she finished. "Whatever. Lets just go wipe him out and be back in time to catch the anime convention tomorrow." Everyone falls over, sweat drops forming on their heads. "Uh, Z? I don't think that's such a great idea." Lee said, shaking his head and looking a little nervous. Lea didn't say anything she just stared at Zach. Kylie snorted. "I'm with him. Lets get this over with." Marina looked outraged and stood up gripping her laptop with white knuckles. "You people! I worked on these plans for three nights straight! Nights I could have been studying for that Chemistry test coming up in three weeks and all you can do is write it all off like this were a game." Rini saw a conflict forming and tried to intervene while Marina yelled at Zach and Kylie who fought back with no so good reasons. Lee and Lea tried to calm them down but it really wasn't working. Rini felt that she was pretty much useless to calm them down and walked away, towards a small grove of tall orange leafed trees off to the side of the main shrine. She took a deep breath of the autumn air around her, the smell of damp leaves carried on the cool, gentle breeze that stirred her hair suddenly. Mulling over her mixed emotions about leading this group of disagreeable people, she kept walking slowly along the path of fallen leaves. "You seemed troubled." A familiar voice made her whirl around. Standing in the shadow of a large old looking tree was Helios wearing civilian clothes. There was no horn or anything on his forehead; he looked totally normal, like a human. Rini jumped. "Geez! Helios! You scared me!" He looked apologetic and kind of crushed. "I am sorry, maiden. I did not intend to frighten you." She shook her head. "Its okay. I'm just really jumpy today, that's all." The white haired young man nodded. "I could sense that from the way you breathe." Rini leveled her garnet eyes on him. " You can tell how I feel by the way I breathe?" A slight blush crept over the pale man's face. "Well, only your breathing relates emotions or feelings to me, maiden." Rini blushed crimson. "Oh." They were silent for a long moment, listening to the far away sound of the Inners fighting. "They never wanna agree!" Rini cried suddenly, spinning around to face her friends' arguing. Helios stepped forward, his hand outstretched as if to touch her shoulder, but he thought better of it. Rini's eyes filled with tears. "Why can't I make them work together? Is it me? Am I a weak leader?" Helios shook his head. "No, Rini, listen to me now." She turned back around slowly, her eyes still filled with tears. "You are a strong person of pure heart and you are a wonderful leader. They just have not learned to work together yet, that is all. They don't trust in themselves as much as they trust in you." His voice faded suddenly as the wind stirred up leaves around them. Rini smiled a little, a tear escaping her eyes. "Thanks, Helios." She whispered, her voice too choked with emotions to say much more. Rini ran forward suddenly and hugged Helios with all her might. "I'm so glad you're here, Helios!" She cried happily. He smiled a smile very different from his usual smile as he hugged her back. "I'm happy to be here, too, maiden…especially since you wandered so willingly into my grasp!" Helios transformed suddenly, his hair darkening to black along with his eyes and his clothes shifted to the black outfit Damien always wore. He held Rini close to him, now Damien Darkstar, not Helios. Rini screamed and struggled to get free, but the evil lord was too powerful for her. He smirked at her pitiful efforts. "Come now! Do you really think I would let you go after you ran to me like that? I didn't know you cared, Princess!" The Darkstar symbol flared into life on his forehead suddenly and he leaned down towards Rini. 

        The Inners were still fighting while the Outer Team observed with a disapproving air. Tara kept looking in the direction Rini had disappeared in, suspicious of something. When Rini's screams punctured the air, the whole Neo-Team looked first to the rest of their team and then to the other team. Nodding to the Inners, Rylie held up his transformation stick.

_White Moon Crystal Orb Power!_

        The Outers followed suit, calling their transformations and the Inners joined in.

_Pluto Crystal Orb Power!_

_Neptune Crystal Orb Power!_

_Uranus Crystal Orb Power!_

_Mars Crystal Orb Power!_

_Venus Crystal Orb Power!_

_Jupiter Crystal Orb Power!_

_Mercury Crystal Orb Power!_

When they were finished transforming and posing, the Neo-Team ran hurriedly towards the place where Rini's screams had come from last. They had stopped abruptly halfway through their transformation sequences. What they found when they reached the place where Rini was shocked and sickened them. Damien was kissing a very unwilling looking Rini whose struggle weakened suddenly. She went limp in Damien's arms. He bent his head back and grinned. Rylie flew into a rage. "Darkstar! Drop my sister, now!" Neo-Pluto looked suddenly very uncomfortable, like there was something in the air that smelled weird. The other Neo-Scouts prepared their attacks, except for Neo-Mercury who was analyzing Darkstar. "STOP! You guys can't attack him!" All the Team looked at her, puzzled. "Neo-Mercury! We have to attack him!" Mars cried. She shook her blue hair. "No, you can't hurt him without hitting Rini." Dropping their attacks, the team watched as Damien shifted his hold on Rini so he could do something with his other hand. He held it down to the ground and his eyes glowed an evil shade of red. Neo-Pluto's eyes widened. "No!" She cried running forward suddenly. "Neo-Pluto!" The Moon Knight and the other Outer Team cried, moving forward a little too. Damien grinned wider. "Time to go, Princess. We have an appointment with your parents' younger selves." His outstretched hand glowed with a similar red light as his eyes. A black swirling portal appeared under said hand. Neo-Pluto slid to a stop in front of him. She held her staff out, key side down to the portal, and cried, "NO! I am Sailor Neo-Pluto, the Guardian of Time! This is violating every law of Time and Space! And I'll punish you in the name of Pluto!" 

_Pluto Chrono Disruption!_

        The attack flew towards the portal and it made a popping noise and disappeared. Damien glared at her. "What do you think you're doing, little girl?" He held his hand out to her and an invisible wave of energy tossed her backwards. Within seconds he had made another portal and was stepping through, with Rini under one of his arms. "Farewell!" He cried as the portal swallowed them. Anguished cries followed him that echoed out in the still air.

        Neo-Pluto stumbled to her feet, clutching her staff. The other Outers ran over to her and Neo-Neptune grabbed her arm as she staggered forward. "Calm down! You're hurt!" The aqua haired girl cried. Neo-Pluto's eyes were filled with tears, maybe from the pain or from defeat. "I couldn't….I was too slow! I felt the time magic growing in the air and I could've stopped it then! Its all my fault!" They were silent as the Inners argued about how to save their princess. Suddenly, the Moon Knight knelt next to the slumped form of the Time Guardian. He gripped her shoulders firmly, his eyes fierce and bright. "Stop it. It's not your fault. We all-" "No!" Neo-Pluto pulled away and leaned on her staff to get up. "It was my fault! I could've saved her and I-" She choked and looked away from Rylie's eyes. Neo-Saturn slashed her glaive through the air. "Silence! If anyone is to take the blame here, it's me. I felt my brother's presence long ago and said nothing." Uranus shook his head. "You guys, it's none of our faults; it's Darkstar's." He growled the name like it was a bad word. 

        Neo-Venus was reduced to tears when Neo-Mercury said she couldn't track Darkstar through Time and Space. Mars was once again her shoulder to cry on and he didn't seem too happy with the fact that their princess had been kidnapped right under their noses. The Knight of Venus had his arms crossed across his chest, thinking hard. Neo-Jupiter looked about ready to kick some ass and Neo-Mercury was just now sighing and putting her visor and mini-computer away. "Its hopeless. There's no way to know where he took her." Neo-Venus pushed herself away from Mars' soaked shoulder. "Don't say things like that! We can get her back if we try! Right guys?" She looked to her companions for support but they all looked away from her pleading eyes. She burst into sobs and hid her face in her hands. Neo-Jupiter looked about ready to kill her. "Why the hell are you crying? It's getting on my nerves!" The male Venus warrior snapped his eyes to the Jupiter warrior angrily. "Rini is Lea's best friend and she's upset because she's lost somewhere in time. Well, I suppose you wouldn't know about losing a friend, now would you?" "What's _that_ supposed to mean, blondie?" Neo-Mercury just stood there woefully as this became a full-scale Inner Neo-Team fight. Mars started yelling at the Venus guy and Neo-Jupiter attempted to strangle Neo-Venus who intensified her sobs. '_What will it take to get them to just work together?_' 

        Later that day, the whole Team was moodily sitting in Rylie's apartment in Crystal Palace. They were discussing their next move, or rather Rylie, Erin, and Marina were while the others sulked, cried, or glared at their "teammates". "So, what you're saying is that we can track them?" Marina asked a nervous looking Erin who nodded. "Yeah, there's a way I can track them using the Time Staff, but it comes with a price." Rylie looked ready to sell Crystal Tokyo to get his sister back and motioned for Erin to continue. She looked down at her hands and then lifted her deep red eyes to them. "I, um, can use my full powers as Time Guardian to track them and then send you guys to wherever they are." Nikki looked up from her sulking to stare at her best friend, suspicion in her eyes. "Wha-" Erin held her hand up to her closest friend. "Just let me finish. I know you guys know what a Time Guardian does, right?" They all nodded and Marina spoke. "Yes, the Time Guardian protects Earth and all Time and Space from invasion, disruption, and pollution from negative energy from a timeless 5th dimension, AKA Time Realm. The Time Guardian is an immortal being who lives ageless in such a realm, forced to stay there for eternity. If they-" She froze, her blue eyes filled with realization. If Erin activated her powers, she'd be forced into the Time Guardian role forever. Trapped in the 5th dimension like her mother was for so long. Silence filled the room and all eyes fell on Erin who was messing with the hem of her black skirt, focused in on the material in her hands. Rylie narrowed his eyes on her and she lifted her own eyes to his sharp gaze. "Erin, you'd be trapped in the Time Realm if you did this to save Rini, wouldn't you?" She nodded. "Yep! But it's the only way to save her and to stop Darkstar so one little thing like this isn't too bad." Nikki jumped up. "What are you talking about? Erin, your life is not a little thing!" Erin smiled slightly. "Its not like I'm gonna be dead, its more like I'll be away at another school or taking a trip to Paris for a long time." Her voice sounded a little happier then her eyes looked, filling with tears at the mere thought of giving up her normal life for her friend. Tara brought her gaze to her only close friend. "Erin, don't go, please?" She sounded as small as she looked sitting there with her hands folded in her lap. The knuckles were whiter than usual because she was gripping her hands together so tightly, concealing emotion. Lee and Lea wore identical disapproving looks on their almost identical faces and Zach was shaking his head. "No, no, and no! There's no way we can ask ya to do that, Erin!" CJ and Nikki both nodded. The only one who seemed to understand was Kylie who moved to sit next to Erin. "Listen Erin, I know we've never been too close, but I think you have a good point. This is the only way and sacrifices have to be made if we want peace to reign again." Marina shook her head defiantly. "Impossible! This is pure insanity!" The whole room broke into shouts and sobs of why this was dumb or other ways of getting Rini back. Erin lifted her eyes to Rylie who had been watching her the whole time and she found sudden comfort in those blue orbs. He nodded slowly. "I think Erin should do what she wants." Uncertainty flashed in his comforting eyes as they washed over the now silent group of teens. They all looked back to Erin who closed her eyes and stood. Silent for a moment, she took a deep breath and transformed into Sailor Neo-Pluto. She turned to Rylie and held her staff out. "Prince Rylie, Warrior of Truth and Justice, with your blessing I will go track this evil down and send the Neo-Team to where the villain took your sister, Princess Lady Serenity." She bowed her head to Rylie who closed his eyes briefly, a pained look flashing across his face. Then he nodded again and spoke, his voice sounding more confident than he was. "Sailor Neo-Pluto, Guardian of Time, I grant you permission and my blessings to track down Lord Darkstar and to send my team and I to save the Moon Princess." Sailor Neo-Pluto lifted teary eyes to him and suddenly threw her arms around his neck before jumping back and shimmering with a maroon energy that transported her to the 5th dimension. Rylie stood their staring, stunned, at the spot she had last stood in. Nikki and CJ looked darkly at their leader for allowing Erin to doom herself like that. Rylie turned to the still silent group. He cleared his throat, ridding it of the lump that had risen there. "Lets transform and get ready to go. I don't think it'll take that long for Sailor Neo-Pluto to find Darkstar; she's strong." He trailed off and looked away. '_Goodbye, Erin._' 

        Neo-Queen Serenity fainted when the Moon Knight told her and King Endymion what was going on. Endymion looked too shocked to speak as he explained to him how Erin had sacrificed her chances at a normal life to save Rini. The old Sailor Scouts stood assembled near the throne and Trista's heart wrenching cry made them all flinch. "Erin!" She screamed, anguished that her daughter had gone without saying goodbye. None of the Neo-Team seemed able to meet their parents' eyes; they were too ashamed that they couldn't protect their princess. "What are you going to do next, Rylie?" Endymion asked when the shouts and sobbing had subsided in the large throne room. The Knight of the Moon looked up at his father strongly, confident. "I know Erin can find Rini in Time, wherever she is. She'll contact us somehow and then send us to whatever time Damien is in. I-" He stopped as a shimmering recreation of Sailor Neo-Pluto appeared before him. She smiled slightly, exhausted looking. "I found them." She stated simply. No one spoke; they waited silently for their leader or the Pluto warrior to make the next move. "Good job! Will you send us there, now, Erin, er, Sailor Neo-Pluto?" The Moon Knight was stumbling over his words like a lovesick schoolboy. She just nodded. "Are you ready, everyone?" The new Time Guardian asked the rest of the Neo-Team. They all nodded or muttered yeah. Sailor Neo-Neptune ran forward to the image of her friend. "Erin! Are you trapped now? In the 5th Dimension?" Sailor Neo-Pluto shook her head with a slight smile. "But I will be when I send you all to the past." Silence prevailed; the only sound was Trista's slight sobs from somewhere in the crowd of old Sailors. Sailor Neo-Pluto smacked the bottom of her staff to the ground and the crack that sounded seemed to make the Neo-Team's surroundings shift and change into the foggy gray landscape of the Time Realm. 

                Sailor Neo-Pluto nodded to her teammates, her friends, the people she cared most about. They were ready but she didn't know if she was. The Knight of the Moon stepped forward hesitated and then walked swiftly to where she stood near the Time Gate. "Er…Sailor Neo-Pluto, can you send us to the exact time-frame my sister is being held captive in?" Something darkened the younger girl's face and she turned to the Gate. With a wave of the Time Staff, the blank, swirling surface shifted to a scene of old Tokyo. It looked sunny and happy there, like nothing was wrong. "Is this where they are?" The Moon Prince asked, his voice no more than a whisper. She nodded, her eyes dark with regret and worry. "So send us there now, Erin!" Sailor Neo-Venus cried, frustrated from all the waiting. The emerald haired girl turned back around and frowned. "Its not that easy. Damien is very powerful and he placed wards against my form of time magic on that time frame and all the ones closest to it." A murmur of horror rippled through them. Shaking his golden hair, the leader of the group glared at his subordinate. "Now what do we do?" Neo-Pluto seemed unsure of her next statement. "I could send you to the moment right before Damien took Rini, but I don't think you guys would be able to pull this off without powering up." Confused by her words, Mars stepped forward, angry. "Power up? What does THAT mean?" Sailor Neo-Pluto shrugged. "I just know that you can't go as you now are." Sailor Neo-Saturn spoke now. "I know a way. But we'd need the help of the Imperium Silver Crystal; the whole crystal." Rylie looked down at the fog-shrouded ground sheepishly. Everyone looked at him expectantly. "Uh, I don't have the Crystal, only half of it. Rini has the other half in the form of her Gold Crescent." He took out his own Silver Crescent to prove his point. Sailor Neo-Pluto looked honestly thoughtful, as did all the others. Laughing a little, the Time Guardian turned away from them and waved her staff. This created a portal that showed the scene right before Rini met up with Helios/Damien. "I'll send you here using my own powers to their fullest." Neo-Neptune shook her head. "Nope! I'll just wait for the other half of the crystal, thanks." Uranus nodded, his eyes locked on his friend. All the others seemed pretty hesitant too. The Moon Knight frowned, the weight of this decision ripping his heart to shreds. His little sister or the one person he actually felt real love for, not lust? What to do? Neo-Pluto turned her face back to them and they saw that she was smiling. "Hey! No worries! Be happy! Remember? The Crystal has powers to heal, right?" They all caught her meaning and seemed to be heartened. General agreement murmured among them that this seemed to be the way to go. Rylie looked hesitant still. The emerald haired warrior turned all the way around and tilted her head to the side. "What? You don't think I can do it?" Rylie shook his head. "No, its just that I don't like the idea of you dying, Erin." She closed her eyes to hide the tears but one escaped down her cheek. The Moon Knight reached his hand over to wipe it away gently and he let his hand linger long after the tear was gone. "I'll come back, okay?" Erin whispered, opening her eyes. Rylie nodded. "Promise?" Erin laughed a little and moved back to her portal. "Everyone ready? Good! Chronos, give me strength!" She pointed her staff to the portal and it flashed violently and whirled around and around till it created a vacuum in the realm. All the Neos felt themselves being sucked in. Neo-Pluto sensed this and shouted, "Don't fight it! Trust in yourselves and me!" All of them but the Moon Knight nodded and let their struggle go. Rylie was clinging to it with all his might even as he watched all his companions fly past him and into the portal. He slid towards Erin's back convinced that he could bring her with if he could just grab her. His hands reached her shoulders and gripped them firmly. She jumped a little and turned her face sideways to see him. "Cut it out! If you hold on I won't be able to-" She was cut off by her own gasp. The portal was closing, fast. Rylie fought the renewed powers she employed to get him into the portal. "Erin! Come with me! I need you! Please!" There was a shockwave of energy that picked the Knight of the Moon up and tossed him into the portal. It closed with a whoosh and left Neo-Pluto focusing on the image of their destination that floated in front of her. Suddenly her energy left her and her friends entered the image. "Good. They got there." She said as she fell to her knees gasping for air, this was more painful than she had thought. The Time Staff fell from her hand with an odd echoey clank. Smiling through renewed tears up at the image Sailor Neo-Pluto turned back into Erin. "I'll miss you guys." Then she shuddered as an odd stillness fell onto her. The gray-fogged world swirled away into darkness indefinitely. 

        Rylie felt her die. It was like the shockwave she had used to get him to leave only in his heart and way crueler. '_Erin.'_ He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth even as Rini started down the path into the grove where they stood. Any second then Damien would come in as Helios. Neo-Venus ran towards her friend screeching and the other Inners followed. Neo-Neptune took one look at Rylie's dejected stance and a tear slid down her cheek. Uranus patted her shoulder comfortingly and Neo-Saturn bowed her head in tribute. "She was truly a Warrior of Truth and Justice."

        Rini was totally confused as to why the whole Neo-Team was out in front of her when she could still hear them fighting behind her. There was no time to explain because just then Damien burst onto the scene. "Well! I don't know how you knew of my plan or how you got hear so quickly but you're going to pay for it!" He gathered some energy for an attack and Neo-Saturn braced herself to absorb it. There was an odd sort of serenity about this whole thing that the Knight of the Moon found quite comforting. As Damien blasted his whole team backwards several feet, he just stood there not even wincing as tiny blades of black fire licked at him. His eyes were out of focus and he seemed to be somewhere else entirely. Rini saw him standing there and she ran over. "Rylie! Come on!" When she saw no response she groaned and took out her transformation stick.

_Moon Crystal Orb Power!_

        Sailor Neo-Moon jumped in front of her totally out of it brother to deflect a large blast Damien had sent his way. She flinched; he had gotten stronger. "Damien!" Neo-Moon heard Neo-Saturn cry and she turned to see the trouble. The Silent Warrior was standing like a statue, holding her glaive tightly with both hands in front of her. Her face was in agony. Damien laughed quite insanely. "Aw! Poor little Tara! Am I producing too much energy? Are you absorbing it all into that glaive but it's running off into your body and causing painful things to happen? Wonderful!" He laughed and blasted the Inners who were just getting up from the last wave of energy. Sailor Neo-Neptune stepped forward, wrathful. "You'll pay for what you made Erin do, Damien!"

_Neptune Tidal Wave!_

        She screamed her attack phrase and the tidal wave raced towards Damien in full force. The villain smirked and threw his hand out at the last minute to stop the raging torrent. The water splashed to the ground in a sort of slow motion that made it all seem more dramatic. Neo-Neptune stared at her usually powerful attack while it lay there like, well, a puddle of water. She couldn't believe it. Uranus stepped up next to her, his face beyond rage. "Hey! Damien! You too scared to fight? Why are you blocking our attacks, huh? Scared we're too powerful? Well?" As he spoke he pulled out his Space Sword, its blade glowing with an otherworldly light. Damien smiled coldly. "No. But would you care to test that "we're too powerful" theory, man to super-being?" Uranus roared and rushed Damien, his blade flaring up. Damien produced a gleaming blade that held its own odd light. The edge looked sharp and somehow gleamed with a venomous sheen. Neo-Neptune covered her mouth with her hands as the fight began. She couldn't let herself scream or Uranus would be thrown off. He was so focused, but she knew he'd lose all that focus if she screamed. That's just the way it went. 

        Meanwhile, Neo-Saturn was trying to stop absorbing all the energy her half-brother was producing. It was a whole lot of energy and she couldn't hold it all. Her glaive had started to feel hot in her gloved hands and her body wouldn't listen when she told it to let the blade go. Wincing as Damien released a massive amount of energy to throw Uranus to the ground, she fought back the tears that threatened to fall. '_Please. Just let go of the stupid glaive! Please! Why won't my arms listen? Why won't my legs turn and run?'_ Her thoughts scrambled in a panic to figure out the answers to all the unsolved (or unsolvable) questions. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her tense shoulder. Then she saw a concerned face close to hers, from behind her. "Sailor Neo-Saturn?" It was the Knight of Venus and his eyes were full of a mix of fear and worry. His hand felt comforting on her involuntarily tensed shoulder. "Venus. I need help. I can't let go of the Silence Glaive and through it my body is absorbing way too much of my brother's dark energy." Her voice sounded forced out of her suddenly unwilling mouth. Venus' face registered a flicker of fear before he moved quickly as if to take the Glaive from Neo-Saturn's hands. He gripped it above her hands and pulled with all his strength. At that exact moment, Neo-Mercury gave a shout from where she was monitoring Damien's energy levels near the line of trees, Damien yelled and blasted Uranus full on, and the Silence Glaive let off a blast that threw them all to the ground.

        When the smoke cleared, the Moon Knight was the only one standing. If you could call it standing because it was more like slouching on one knee, panting and bleeding from all sorts of wounds. The other Neos lay in multiple states of injury-induced sleep. Damien was also lying on the ground with the Space Sword through his left shoulder; the deep wound leaking black blood. Uranus still had his eyes open and he was watching the Lord of Darkstar as he stood and yanked the now dim blade out of his body. A shower of black blood splattered the ground around his black-garbed figure. He didn't even wince as his blood leaked out all over his clothes, the pain had to be worse than that. It was almost with a look of ecstasy that he wore, standing there with his blood leaking out of him. Uranus felt sick to watch this evil being smile at his own pain. '_Freak.'_ He thought, letting himself slip into a dreamless sleep. 

        Damien looked around him at all the Neo Team lying at his feet. Then he spotted Sailor Neo-Moon getting up and crawling to her brother, who was still just crouching there. She was crying and shaking him, trying to get him to snap out of it. She was so beautiful when she cried. He wanted to make her cry more, to see her in pain or even enraged. That was easy enough to do. He smirked as the last of the smoke swirled past the only two do-gooders conscious. Easy enough to make her cry, feel pain, get mad. Humans had such fluid emotions that came on easily and strongly. All he had to do was kill one of her friends, hell, kill all of them and she'd be so sad she'd never stop crying. Grinning suddenly, he started to gather the energy to wipe them all out except Neo-Moon, but he was interrupted by a voice from beyond the trees. "Damien! Drop the energy or I swear I shall unleash all the energy of the Gold Crystal on you!" A white figure rushed out of nowhere, a golden sword in its hand and a golden symbol on its pale forehead. Sailor Neo-Moon looked up from where she sat near her brother and almost fainted again. "Helios?!?" She cried, jumping up. The figure turned slightly and smiled at her. "Yes, maiden. I have come to help you." He was wearing the same outfit that the Angel of Dreams wore, but without the top hat. "Oh, get over it!" Cried Damien who looked more than a little put out by Helios' sudden entrance. He _really_ wanted to see Neo-Moon cry more. Helios turned back toward the still bleeding enigma. "Damien of Darkstar, your reign of terror has ended on Earth. Leave this place at once!" He slashed the air with his golden sword and an invisible wave of light-force energy rushed through Damien. He cried out, and gripping his left shoulder. "I won't tell you my reasons for staying, cape boy, but I'll tell you I won't leave until I get what I want." Helios took a few steps toward the panting villain. He stopped close enough to Damien that he could kill him if he wanted to. Instead of ending it all, he leveled his golden blade at the black haired demon-boy. Sailor Neo-Moon watched totally surprised that Damien just sat there and that Helios wouldn't kill him. "I know what it is you seek and you are truly a fool to seek it. Not only will you not get what you want, but also you will be banished to the same prison your father was sent to when Queen Serenity defeated him so long ago. There you will stay alone, for all eternity." Damien glared up at the Elysian priest with an unparalleled hatred. "You're wrong, ya know. I _will _get what I want, all that I want. Or I will die trying." He smiled at Helios' silence. "And you are the fool, child of angels. Your race was broken and scattered by my father and I should be the one to end the line forever. I will start with that pitiful excuse for an Angelic, the girl. What was her name, again?" Helios made an outraged noise in his throat. "Leave her out of this! Her battle with your kind ended years ago! Her peace is well deserved!" Damien continued smiling that cold, smirkish smile that drove Helios into a rage. Neo-Moon, meanwhile, was totally caught off guard. Child of angels? Helios' race had been scattered by Damien's dad? What was up with that? Helios was struggling to keep his anger under control and Neo-Moon could see it. His hand shook with the effort to keep his blade still. Damien seemed to be enjoying it all too much. "Oops! I guess you didn't know that. Sorry, but its in my blood to destroy you, and your-" "Stop!" Helios threw his sword to the ground as he shouted, making Sailor Neo-Moon jump. She had never seen him mad before and he was really, really pissed off. "Damien, I never want you to mention her again! Never! Leave her out of this!" Damien looked over at Neo-Moon who was standing looking totally lost. "She doesn't know, does she? She doesn't know about your, well, I'm not supposed to mention her any more." His voice was dripping with sarcasm. Neo-Moon couldn't take it anymore. "Okay! That's it! Whatever this is all about, I'm about to end it!"

_Pink Crystal Storm!_

            The tiny shards of the crystal flew at Damien who laughed disappeared in a whirl of smoke. His laughter echoed off the air itself, hanging around like an ominous cloud. Helios fell to his knees and buried his head in his hands. Neo-Moon rushed over to him. She knelt in front of him, leaning to see his face. "Helios? Are you okay?" There was no response from the white haired man. The Knight of the Moon was standing now and he was staring at them, his eyes back to normal now. "Neo-Moon! Helios!" He jogged over to them only to get a glimpse of Neo-Moon's tear filled eyes and Helios' down turned head. "What…"He trailed off and stared off into space, not really wanting to know what had just happened or why. He still felt that piercing sense of pain in his heart for letting Erin die. '_What was it worth? We let Damien get away again and Rini's safe, but was it really worth a life?_' Helios suddenly stood up and turned to the blond warrior. "Rylie, please do not think in such a way. A sacrifice of such purity is always worth something. A life for a life, as the saying goes. But a life freely given for a life that would be taken, that is truly the meaning here." Sailor Neo-Moon also stood, kind of confused again. Helios had been shocked into silence seconds before and now he was preaching to her brother about something she didn't know about. The Moon Knight shook his head. "I don't know, Helios. It hurts so much." The priest nodded even though the person he spoke to had his eyes closed as if blocking a painful memory. "I know how much it hurts." Rylie opened his eyes and looked into Helios'. He saw it all then, the pain of loss mingled with ages of loneliness and sorrow. He saw the sacrifice that someone dear to Helios had made to save them all. He saw the tears, the hatred, the love, and the laughter all in an instant. He blinked when it all stopped and Helios merely smiled. "Now you know, too." The white haired man turned to Neo-Moon. She stared at him as if pondering his identity. "It is truly I, maiden. I am not in a guise of any sort." The pink haired princess nodded. "I know, but there's a lot about you that I don't know, Helios. Like, about your past. What was Damien talking about?" Helios closed his eyes and shook his head. "This is neither the time nor the place for this discussion. I am truly sorry, maiden, but I must take my leave of you all." He turned to the Moon Prince now. "I bid you farewell and take heart, young prince. For all that is lost may yet be found again. Farewell." He did a back flip away from them and in a swirl of white feathers was gone. Sailor Neo-Moon looked at her brother and lifted an eyebrow. The Moon Knight sighed. "I don't think I can tell you right now, Rini. I'm sorry." Just then everything froze where it was. Neo-Moon's mouth slightly open to yell in fury at her big brother, the leaves drifting off their branches on the wind, the other group of Neos running to see what had happened. All the other Neos except one. Sailor Neo-Pluto was still walking, slowly, towards the Knight of the Moon. He heard footsteps and whirled around, ready to fight again. His face flew from tensed for battle to relieved beyond doubt. She stopped a few feet from him. "Rylie, you did well. You and the others managed to stop Damien from taking Rini and therefore you changed the future. I'll send you back to your own time now, where things will be back to normal." He made as if to run to her then stopped. "Everything?" She flinched. "No, there are things that cannot be undone by what you have done. I can't just pop back, ya know?" She tried to laugh a little, but ended up choking on her tears. Knowing about your own death wasn't exactly easy to deal with. The Moon Knight clenched his fists to keep himself from running to her. It was gonna be hard enough to say goodbye again without all the hugging and stuff. "Ready?" She asked quietly. He nodded, staring at her intently, memorizing everything about her. Her eyes, her face, her hair, the way she stood, and even the way the tear slid down her cheek. She clicked the bottom of her staff on the ground, hard, so it echoed in the unnatural stillness. He felt the time magic reach out to him and the other Neos, except Sailor Neo-Moon and the others that had come with Neo-Pluto. Smiling, she said, "I'll miss you, Rylie. And at least now you know why I didn't say goodbye before." He shrugged. "I figured you had your reasons. And, I, uh, I'll miss you, too." The world around him wavered and shifted. The odd sensation that he was falling grabbed hold of him and then he opened his eyes to his own apartment. All the others lay all around him sprawled as they had been after the fight. He closed his eyes, fighting his tears yet again. Saying goodbye is hard to do, twice.


End file.
